Over the past decade, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) have rapidly evolved from a disruptive technology, associated with RC hobbyists, to what is now an established and growing commercial segment of the aviation industry. UAS are becoming an increasingly integrated and essential component of the National Airspace System (NAS). In 2021, the UAS market size was estimated at USD 22.1 billion and is forecast to reach USD 43.4 billion by 2027 [1]. Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) is the next progression of UAS and is expected to further increase the volume of air traffic. Morgan Stanley Research predicts the AAM market value nearing USD 1.5 trillion by 2040 [2].

Consequently, there has been an exponential increase in UAS operations across a diverse population of users and applications. As of December 2022, there were about 871,000 registered UAS in the United States (U.S.) [3]. Almost 334,000 of these UAS are registered for commercial use, which far exceeds the approximate 250,000 registered manned aircraft [3,4]. In 2017, the FAA [5] established the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC), which provides UAS operators with automated airspace authorizations to operate in the controlled airspace surrounding the airport. To date, LAANC services are available at 732 U.S. airports and have issued over 1 million authorizations allowing UAS pilots to safely operate in this busy airspace [5,6]. Increasingly, airports themselves are using UAS to support their operations across a number of use cases, such as runway/taxiway inspections, wildlife management, and perimeter security [7,8,9,10]. These UAS operations near or on an airport may be conducted safely, but are not without risk, so long as they are conducted by properly trained operators, in accordance with regulatory policy, and operators exercise proper safety management practices [7,8,9,10]. Additionally, the projected increases in commercial air traffic, UAS operations, and the maturation of AAM technologies will further exacerbate the demand for the FAA’s air traffic control (ATC) resources [7,11,12].

The FAA’s Airmen Certification Branch manages the Civil Aviation Registry (AVS Registry), which serves as the national repository for airmen certification records and provides the central services necessary for the control of these records [13]. The basic pilot certificates issued by the FAA are (a) student; (b) sport; (c) recreational; (d) private; (e) commercial; (f) airline transport; (g) and remote (FAA, 2022e). Table 1 provides a breakdown of the AVS Registry pilot population by certificate along with a brief description of each certificate [14,15,16,17].

A student pilot certificate is intended for initial training and does not expire unless the certificate is surrendered or superseded by a higher pilot certification [18]. However, about 60% of student pilots never earn a higher pilot certificate (e.g., private, recreational, or sport), and approximately 80% of student pilots drop out of flight training; therefore, a large number of the student pilot population is likely inactive [19,20].

The rapid growth of UAS would be significant in any industry and remains unprecedented within aviation. The U.S. issued its first manned pilot certificate in 1927 [21]. In contrast, since the FAA enacted Title 14 Part 107 of the Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) for small UAS in August of 2016, it has issued over 307,000 remote pilot certificates, which already comprises over 20% of the total pilot population [16,22]. A remote pilot certificate allows a person to operate a small UAS (below 55 lbs) for work or business in accordance with Part 107 regulations [23,24]. This remote pilot data, coupled with the number of UAS registered for commercial use, suggests a significant number of remote pilots are engaged in commercial operations.