A just out, monthly drone insurance plan has been added to SkyWatch.AI’s insurance plan options to meet the needs of “frequent flyers.” If you fly your drone so often that on-demand insurance doesn’t make sense for you, SkyWatch.AI’s new SkyWatch Plus program might be just for you.

About the SkyWatch Plus Program

SkyWatch Plus is a tailor-made monthly subscription plan for drone pilot “frequent flyers” that allows them to have insurance coverage all month long anywhere in the U.S. and its territories. Basically, if you’re a drone pilot who flies often, this might be a better option for you than on-demand insurance.

Monthly rates for the SkyWatch Plus program are determined by the chosen liability limit and the available rate adjustments for safe pilots.

As with SkyWatch.AI’s “on-demand” offering, the pricing for SkyWatch Plus is determined by their risk analytics platform, so both the pilot’s Safety Score and Insurance Experience discounts are fully applicable.

The Safety Score is a proprietary value created for pilots who have flown at least five missions using the SkyWatch.AI app. The app collects data on how each pilot flies, and uses that data to assess his or her safety. Insurance Experience simply refers to the total amount of time a pilot has been insured—the longer a pilot is insured, the steeper the discount (up to a certain point, of course).

With this new addition to our platform, pilots have the freedom to choose between our on-demand hourly plan, and a monthly subscription and switch between them as they wish. Our simple, fast, and transparent solution provides pilots the ability to pay exactly for what they need, precisely when they need it.

– Tomer Kashi, CEO of SkyWatch

Trying to decide whether on-demand or monthly is right for you? Check out this side-by-side comparison of each one provided by SkyWatch.AI:

If you’d like to learn more, check out the price calculator on the SkyWatch.AI website.

Risk Analysis Insights

In addition to announcing SkyWatch Plus, SkyWatch.AI also recently shared some unique insights about drone flights in the U.S. based on the data they collect.

SkyWatch.AI gathers a lot of data on drone pilot behavior through their app—in 2018 alone, they had 50,000 flight logs generated. Here are the three biggest insights from an analysis of that data:

1. Insights on Hazardous Flying

According to the data collected by SkyWatch.AI, during 70% of the flights logged on their app the pilot engaged in some kind of hazardous behavior.

The most common risk that drone pilots using the SkyWatch.AI app take is to fly over moderately dense roads, and the second most common risk is to fly in controlled airspace.

According to SkyWatch.AI, the LAANC rollout should help prevent many of those flights in controlled airspace, since pilots will now have a practical option when it comes to seeking airspace authorizations (instead of simply doing the flight and taking the risk).

2. Insights on Drone Flights by State

Looking at the raw data, SkyWatch.AI found that, unsurprisingly, the most populous states in the U.S. also have the most overall drone flights—California, Texas, and Florida lead the pack. (The only exception here is New York, which they speculate may not have as many due to congested airspace.)

However, when SkyWatch.AI controlled for population size, the numbers revealed some surprising trends, with three smaller states in the northeast—Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey—showing the most drone flights per capita.

3. Insights on the Impact of LAANC

LAANC is currently being rolled out throughout the U.S.—in fact, Wave 5 of the rollout deploys today, making LAANC available in the majority of U.S. airspace.

When SkyWatch.AI looked at the number of flights that took place in 2018 in controlled airspace, they found that 75% of those flights took place in areas where LAANC currently is or will be soon available.

It seems a little premature to point to LAANC as a success based on this data, since we don’t know how many of these flights took place with FAA approval or whether that approval was granted through LAANC, but it does seem like a positive sign.

Check out this video to learn more about SkyWatch.AI’s AirMAp integration to provide LAANC access to users of its app:

Have questions about SkyWatch Plus, or want to connect with other drone pilots looking for drone insurance? Hop into this thread on the UAV Coach community forum to join the discussion.