As advanced air mobility, drone deliveries, and high-altitude platforms continue to grow and play a more important part in the shape of future skies, a new Think Paper from the Complete Air Traffic System (CATS) Global Council poses a timely and provocative question: Are today’s flight rules ready for tomorrow?
The paper – Seamless Airspace: Are Today’s Flight Rules Ready for the Future of Aviation? explores whether traditional constructs like Visual Flight Rules (VFR) and Instrument Flight Rules (IFR)—designed for human-piloted aircraft in predictable environments—can support the growing diversity of operations now entering the airspace.
It identifies critical gaps in today’s flight rules and outlines opportunities for research into more dynamic, performance-based frameworks that leverage automation, flight path intent, and real-time data. It calls on industry, regulators, and academia to collaboratively explore new or adapted rules that ensure safety, scalability, and equitable access in increasingly complex skies.
”This paper isn’t just theoretical —it’s a call to action,” said Dr Eduardo Garcia, Senior Manager, Future Skies, CANSO, who coordinated its development. “It’s about unlocking aviation’s full potential through smart, inclusive, and forward-thinking framework to guide the evolution of Flight Rules, underpinned by targeted research.
“CATS is built on cross-sector collaboration, and I’m proud this work unites expertise from NASA, Wisk, Wing, HAPS Alliance, Airbus, Boeing, Flight Safety Foundation, IFALPA, ALPA, skyguide, DFS, and many others.”
