Kristen Beverly, vice president of enterprise services for Tetra Tech’s Federal IT Group, discusses how digital technologies, data standards, and modernized information systems are helping to safely integrate drones, air taxis, and other emerging aircraft into the U.S. National Airspace System.
What technologies are enabling the safe integration of new entrants into the airspace?
A robust information architecture enables aircraft, operators, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) systems to continuously share activity, destinations, and required constraints. This shared understanding maintains safety as new entrants, such as drones and air taxis, join traditional aircraft.
We are already seeing this in action today. Capabilities like Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC), a system for automated airspace approval, allow drone operators to obtain near-real-time authorization to fly in controlled airspace, something that used to take days or weeks. Looking ahead, platforms like Volans®, a software tool for simulating drone operations at scale, are helping model and visualize how these new operations will scale, giving both operators and regulators a way to test concepts before deployment in the real world.
Underlying these services are cloud solutions, APIs, and machine-readable data standards that enable consistent, rapid information flow throughout the system, including data from the FAA, operators, providers, and sensors. As operations accelerate, this foundation helps people and automated systems coordinate activity and make safe decisions in real time.
How are new unmanned aircraft system rules shaping these developments?
NUBO, or near-term unmanned aircraft system beyond visual line-of-sight operations, is part of the FAA’s effort to safely expand what drones are allowed to do. Today, most drone flights require the operator to keep the aircraft within sight. NUBO is focused on enabling routine flights beyond the operator’s line of sight, opening the door to operations such as long-distance infrastructure inspections, package delivery, emergency response, and wide-area environmental monitoring.
This shift moves drones from small-scale to scalable, persistent operations across regions, increasing the need for safe management alongside traditional aircraft.
This is where Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) comes in. UTM is a set of digital services that help coordinate drone activity by sharing information such as flight intent, location, and airspace constraints between operators, service providers, and the FAA. Instead of relying solely on direct human control, UTM enables a more networked and automated approach to managing airspace activity.
To operate under NUBO, operators must demonstrate safety by providing data on flight plans, aircraft performance, and responses to changing conditions, sharing this information in real time through systems such as UTM and other FAA services. This creates a connected environment where safety relies on continuous data exchange and coordination, not one-time approvals.
NUBO is not just a regulatory change. It is a shift toward a more data-driven model of aviation, where technologies such as UTM, digital Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs), and shared data services become essential for managing operations at scale.
Why is modernizing NOTAMs so important in this context?
NOTAMs inform pilots and controllers of airspace changes or hazards, such as runway closures, flight restrictions, equipment outages, or unexpected conditions affecting flight safety. In short, NOTAMs explain current airspace status and required constraints.
The challenge is that the current system is largely text-based and difficult to filter, especially as the volume of information continues to grow. As more aircraft and new types of operations are introduced, that approach becomes harder to manage and less effective for both people and systems.
Modernization efforts are shifting NOTAMs toward digital, structured, and geospatially enabled data that can be understood not just by humans, but also by aircraft systems, UTM platforms, and decision-support tools. This allows safety-critical information to be integrated directly into flight planning and management, rather than requiring manual interpretation.
This builds a trusted data ecosystem where all users can rely on timely, consistent, actionable information for decision-making.
How will controllers adapt as skies grow more complex with drones and air taxis?
Air traffic controllers will increasingly use integrated systems and decision-support tools to manage a data-rich airspace. As information grows from various sources, the challenge becomes quickly identifying and acting on what’s important. This creates a need for tools that filter, prioritize, and present information clearly and actionably. Instead of simply adding more data, these systems highlight potential conflicts, surface constraints, and clarify evolving airspace conditions.
AI and automation can help organize information and support faster, more informed decisions, augmenting human judgment so controllers can manage complexity safely without added risk.
What kinds of infrastructure and standards are needed to make this vision work?
Making this vision work depends on having both a shared digital language and the infrastructure to move information quickly and reliably across the system. Standards such as the Aeronautical Information Exchange Model (AIXM), Flight Information Exchange Model (FIXM), and UTM APIs define how aviation data is structured and shared, ensuring that the FAA, industry stakeholders, and partners have a consistent understanding of flight activity and airspace restrictions.
The infrastructure must support continuous, real-time data exchange at scale, using secure networks, data platforms, and cloud services to handle growing volumes of information, accommodate additional participants, integrate new sources, and support reliable automation.
This is an area where Tetra Tech is actively contributing by bringing together systems engineering, digital platform development, and operational integration expertise to help modernize how aviation information is created, shared, and used. These standards and infrastructure create the National Airspace System’s digital backbone, supporting safe coordination now and flexibility for future innovations.
About the expert
Kristen Beverly
Kristen Beverly is a vice president of enterprise services within the Tetra Tech Federal IT Group.
His expertise includes aviation systems modernization, digital platform development, and the integration of emerging technologies into the U.S. national airspace system. His work focuses on advancing the digital infrastructure and information-sharing capabilities needed to support safe, efficient airspace operations.