FAA chief to impatient drone industry: “Sorry we’re so slow”

FAA administrator Michael Huerta told attendees at this week’s drone conference that the FAA is forming an advisory committee led by Intel CEO Brian Krzanich to help prioritize drone rulemaking work. (credit: Sean Gallagher)

NEW ORLEANS—Former Cisco CEO John Chambers delivered a keynote on Tuesday at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) XPONENTIAL conference, slamming the Obama administration for moving too slowly on adjusting regulations governing commercial and private drones.

Chambers said that Obama doesn’t “get” drones and that the US is potentially being left behind in a market that he claimed could drive trillions of dollars in economic impact. His remarks drew loud applause from the audience of attendees—many of whom represented companies eager to cash in on drones as either vendors or customers.

Federal Aviation Administration administrator Michael Huerta responded on Wednesday with a talk about the FAA’s progress on drone regulations before the same audience that Huerta had previously called “a lion’s den” in his last appearance at AUVSI’s flagship conference four years ago. But, he joked, “We’re getting to know each other so well that UAS conventions are getting to be like family reunions.”