U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao announced new additions and changes to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Drone Advisory Committee membership.  New members include representatives from U.S. manufacturer Skydio and Amazon Prime, as well as individual drone operator Vic Moss and President CEO of the Drone Services Providers Alliance, Kenji Sugahara.  The term of members including DJI’s Brendan Schulman, an original member of the DAC, have ended.

“The Drone Advisory Committee is key to helping the FAA keep pace with innovation while protecting safety,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao in an FAA press release.

“Members are executives who represent a variety of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) interests, including industry, research, academia, retail, technology, and state and local government.”

The Drone Advisory Committee has been an influential group, advising the FAA on regulatory issues like Remote ID and the commercial waiver process.  A recent Senate Bill asked for greater transparency and greater representation of state, local and tribal governments on the DAC: drone industry stakeholders have long asked that individual service providers and pilots be represented.

“As the UAS industry continues to evolve, it is important to have DAC members who mirror the many facets of this fast-growing industry. We know the members will help the FAA ensure the highest level of safety while keeping pace with the new and innovative technology for UAS,” said FAA Administrator Steve Dickson.

The following are the new additions to the Drone Advisory Committee membership.

• Seleta Reynolds, General Manager, Los Angeles Department of Transportation
• Dr. Paul Hsu, Founder and Chair, HSU Foundation
• Matt Parker, President, Precision Integrated Programs
• Molly Wilkinson, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, American Airlines
• Brad Hayden, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Robotic Skies
• David Carbon, Vice President and General Manager, Amazon Prime Air
• Adam Bry, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Skydio
• Kenji Sugahara, President and Chief Executive Officer, Drone Service Providers Alliance
• Brandon Torres Declet, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, MEASURE
• Dr. Jaiwon Shin, Executive Vice President, Head of UAM Division and Chief Executive Officer, Genesis Air Mobility
• Dr. Catherine Cahill, Director, Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration
• Vic Moss, Owner, Moss Photography

A complete list of members can be found here.

On Twitter, DJI’s Brendan Schulman, one of the original members of the Drone Advisory Committee, made this statement about his tenure on the DAC and the achievements of the Advisory Committee to date.

I have been privileged to be one of the longest-serving members of the FAA Drone Advisory Committee since its inception over four years ago.  As my term now ends, I am glad to have been not only a representative of the world’s largest drone manufacturer, DJI, but also an advocate for the commercial and recreational drone operators who are the heart of the industry in the United States.

Looking back at the years of collaboration, we have made a difference by giving the FAA a perspective on matters of pivotal importance, including safety and security, funding of FAA drone initiatives, roles and responsibilities of federal, state & local government, remote ID,the commercial waiver process, controlled airspace approvals, and promoting a safety culture.  The FAA deserves credit for soliciting these opinions from the industry, and for taking them seriously as they plan for the future.

I am very pleased to see that the new slate of DAC members – replacing some of us old-timers, – includes individual operators and small companies, adding important representation that I have repeatedly advocated for during several DAC meetings.  I look forward to continuing to collaborate in various ways with government and industry stakeholders on our common mission of safe growth and innovation.