AirData, the drone operational-assurance platform based in El Dorado Hills, California, has surpassed 65 million tracked drone flights worldwide, covering more than 850,000 drones and 470,000 pilots1,2. The milestone lands as the FAA's final Part 108 rule for routine beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations sits with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), where it has been under review since July 10.
The growth rate is accelerating. AirData passed 50 million flights in May 2025 and has added 15 million in the roughly fifteen months since — approximately one million flights per month. The company attributes the surge partly to existing programs scaling up and partly to organizations shifting drones from pilot projects to routine infrastructure.
Part 108 would restructure accountability for commercial drone flights. Under the proposed rule, responsibility for qualification and currency records moves from the individual remote pilot to the operating organization, which must demonstrate that its personnel are qualified, its aircraft are airworthy, and its operations follow approved procedures. The rule would also require organizations to maintain flight records.
ANALYSIS The regulatory shift toward organizational accountability aligns with the kind of fleet-level data AirData already aggregates — qualification tracking, airworthiness logs, and operational records across hundreds of thousands of drones. A rule that compels operating organizations to maintain such records could expand the addressable market for platforms that already provide that infrastructure at scale.
DroneDJ characterized the 65-million-flight figure as offering "a glimpse into just how quickly commercial drone operations are maturing". The OIRA review is the last major procedural step before the Part 108 rule is published.