Nov 23, 2018

Regulation delays are straining the drone industry

Michael Sykes

A drone. Wang Gang/China News Service via Getty Images

A holdup on regulations for drones from the Federal Aviation Administration is hampering the industry's ability to grow, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Why it matters: Regulators initially promised speedy decision making on rules for the drone industry, but the process has been slow and some experts believe regulations aren't likely to come until 2022.

The backdrop: Delays are a result of some law enforcement agencies' skepticism of proposed airborne identification systems as well as commercial rivalries.

  • The FAA believed regulations would be complete by late 2018, but senior FBI officials demanded tougher requirements to identify potential terrorists and hostiles in the spring, causing FAA regulators to rework their proposal.

The state of play: The FAA could propose standard regulations this month allowing small drones to fly over crowds and populated areas, per the WSJ, but there are still other regulations that will take years to iron out.

Go deeper: Drone sales exploded in 2017, surpassing the $1 billion mark for the first time.

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Ivanka Trump plans focus on coronavirus recovery for small businesses

Ivanka Trump speaks at yesterday's White House videoconference with bank and credit card executives. Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Ivanka Trump personally lobbied top bank executives to line up the $1.5 billion in commitments to small business that were announced yesterday at a videoconference among the bank executives and President Trump — stoking competitive juices among the execs to drive up their commitments.

The state of play: Ivanka, who has had workforce development in her portfolio going back to 2017, plans an increasing emphasis on small businesses in the weeks ahead as they navigate the rescue bill’s Payroll Protection Program, sources tell me.

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Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

Public transit systems across the country are experiencing a painful trifecta: Ridership has collapsed, funding streams are squeezed, and mass transit won't bounce back from the pandemic nearly as fast as other modes of transportation.

Why it matters: Transit agencies could see an annual shortfall of as much as $38 billion due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to TransitCenter. At the same time, they're more important than ever, with more than 36% of essential workers relying on public transportation to get to work.

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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern offered hope in the fight against the novel coronavirus, saying she believes New Zealand has "turned a corner" after two weeks of strict lockdown measures. But London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said the U.K. is "nowhere near" lifting restrictions.

The big picture: COVID-19 has killed over 82,000 people and infected 1.4 million others globally as of early Wednesday, per Johns Hopkins data. Global recoveries have surpassed 301,000. Spain has reported the most cases outside the U.S. (more than 141,000) and Italy the most deaths (over 17,000). Half the planet's population is on lockdown.

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