FAA Publishes Much-Needed Regulations

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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has published several documents recently in a boon for manned and unmanned aircraft. FAA headquarters in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, March 10, 2025. Photographer: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg

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Typically, the news of more government regulations is something seen with dread. Indeed, the Trump Administration has singled out reducing regulations as a centerpiece of its economic agenda. Days after taking office, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order EO 14192, “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation.” The order requires that “whenever an agency promulgates a new rule, regulation, or guidance, it must identify at least 10 existing rules, regulations, or guidance documents to be repealed.”

So, it might come as a surprise that when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced a series of proposed and final regulations this summer, the news was received with celebration by the American aviation community, as many of these actions had been awaited for months or years. These newly released regulations, EOs and guidance are watershed events for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), small aircraft and powered-lift electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

Delayed Progress

The FAA works “to reach the next level of safety and efficiency and to demonstrate global leadership in how we safely integrate new users and technologies into our aviation system.” Integrating new users and technologies requires that the necessary rules, regulations, policies and guidance are in place to minimize the risk exposure for pilots, passengers and the public.

Over the past quarter century, UAS (aka “drones”) have evolved from multi-million-dollar weapon systems to low-cost aviation assets for myriad civil and military operations. The lack of any substantive regulations, however, prohibited legal commercial use of drones until the FAA was authorized to grant waivers in 2014. The FAA finally published a rule for small UAS (Federal Aviation Regulation Part 107) in 2016. This delay contributed to China cornering more than 90% of the commercial drone market.

Meanwhile, over this same time period, eVTOL aircraft have matured from glitzy drawings of “flying cars” to four-to-six-seat aircraft now undergoing certification. Even though multiple companies had been flying large-scale battery-powered eVTOL demonstrators for as long as a decade, the FAA changed its regulatory approach in 2022 (ultimately finalizing its operational regulations last year). Again, the lack of regulatory clarity delayed progress in maturing these innovative aircraft.

MOSAIC

On July 22, 2025, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and FAA Deputy Administrator Chris Rocheleau, made a big announcement about small airplanes. The backdrop was the world’s largest aviation fly-in — and the biggest target audience for the new regulation: AirVenture 2025, organized every year by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), attracted more than 700,000 attendees this year to its big event in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

The new regulation, titled simply “Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification” (MOSAIC), will “remove outdated regulations that have impeded innovation and safety in the growing recreational Light Sport aviation sector.”

The FAA published the original light sport aircraft (LSA) rule in 2004 to allow small, inexpensive aircraft to be flown for recreation only, without going through a long and very expensive aircraft type certification process — instead, the aircraft were designed to meet industry standards. The 2004 LSA rule was limited to piston-powered airplanes with no more than two seats and up to a gross weight of 1,320 lb (600 kg) to minimize the risk to people and property. Two decades of data showed that these LSA could achieve comparable levels of safety to two-seat type-certificated airplanes (using FAR Part 23), and were much safer than amateur kit-built and ultralight airplanes. Unfortunately, the original LSA rule excluded helicopters and gyroplanes, so many accidents occurred when flying improperly constructed home-built kits.

The draft MOSAIC rule was published in July 2023, and the FAA received more than 1,300 constructive comments to adjudicate. The 770-page final rule allows modestly higher-performance LSAs with up to four seats. Significantly, it now also allows electric propulsion, vertical flight (including helicopters, gyroplanes and powered-lift aircraft), and up to four-seat.

MOSAIC should “promote better designs, safer materials, and upgraded technology in the recreational aviation sector,” Secretary Duffy stated, noting that “outdated regulations were inhibiting innovation and safety.”

Powered-Lift Advisory Circular

The new MOSAIC regulation, which was signed on July 18, was celebrated by politicians and the aviation community after more than decade of advocacy.

Another significant FAA publication was also signed by the FAA on July 18, but it received no fanfare. This new Advisory Circular (AC) provides airworthiness-, type- and production-certification guidance for powered-lift aircraft with up to six seats and weighing up to 12,000 lb (5,400 kg).

Because of the FAA’s 2022 decision to certificate winged eVTOL aircraft as “special class” aircraft, rather than as “normal category airplanes” (FAR Part 23) with special conditions, the agency had to create a series of new rules and regulations under the special Part 21.17(b) process.

Global law firm Holland & Knight LLP noted that this new guidance, AC 21.17-4 Type Certification of Powered-Lift, “will enable streamlined approvals of aircraft designs, as it establishes both an efficient procedure and sets forth airworthiness criteria, much of which is performance-based, that the FAA has already determined are acceptable.”

It might not help powered-lift eVTOL frontrunners Archer Aviation and Joby Aviation, however, since their airworthiness criteria were both approved in May 2024. Their criteria were both published in the Federal Register for inspection and a public comment period. Future applicants can follow the new AC 21.17-4 guidance and also pull from other published airworthiness criteria, but only the deviations from the AC need to be published.

More UAS and eVTOL Support

On June 6, the President signed two aviation-related Executive Orders: EO 14305, “Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty,” and EO 14307, “Unleashing American Drone Dominance.” Among other things, the latter directed the FAA to publish its long-delayed Part 108 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which will allow safe, routine beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) drone operations. This draft rule had been expected in 2023, so it was a welcome relief when the FAA finally published the NPRM for public comment on Aug. 6.

Significantly, “Drone Dominance” surprisingly also included eVTOL aircraft. Section 6 directs the FAA to “establish the eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP) as an extension of the BEYOND program to accelerate the deployment of safe and lawful eVTOL operations in the United States.” The FAA will select at least five pilot projects that could begin operations as early as next summer.

The BEYOND program was initiated by the FAA in 2020 to expand operational testing of small UAS. As The Air Current highlighted earlier this week, the program has “broad regulatory waiver authority already granted by Congress.” Meaning that limited operations in the national airspace, particularly to gather key information, could be enabled via eIPP projects, potentially resulting in faster certification and safer operations.

Breaking Bottlenecks

Regulations are essential to design, develop and operate aviation systems, and when innovation outpaces regulations, advancements that can serve the public and drive economic growth are stymied. The Trump Administration’s release of these much-delayed draft and final regulations and guidance will help to advance American aviation capability for decades to come.