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AirData Insights November 2026: Fleet Overview, Part-Level Maintenance & Part 108 Update

PUBLISHED ON
November 9, 2026
TIME
x min read

Welcome to the November edition of AirData Insights, our monthly roundup of what’s new at AirData and across the drone industry.

This month, AirData added a new Fleet Overview, drone booking, and maintenance tracking down to the part, along with easier night proficiency tracking and new mission approvals. We also met with public safety teams at TEXCON, IACP, and LEDA Washington, and the FAA said Part 108 is close to the finish line.

AirData News

AirData and Pilot Institute training record integration

Pilot Institute training records now sync into AirData

Pilot Institute certificates import into AirData automatically, both the ones your pilots already hold and new ones as they finish, with the skills attached.

Administrators can see which courses pilots have completed and which are still in progress, along with the skills each one carries. For programs that need to show training records during an audit or before taking on new kinds of operations, that’s one less set of records to keep in sync by hand.

Learn more
Operational readiness for BVLOS operations

Three pillars of BVLOS operational readiness

With Part 108 nearing publication, now is a good time to make sure your program is ready for it. Dustin Schocken, Director of Regulatory Affairs & Product Safety at AirData, shares what a program needs in place before the rule lands.

He covers building a just safety culture on real telemetry and incident data, setting GO/NO-GO standards for equipment and people, and training crews on the situations that don’t go to plan.

Read the post
The AirData booth at TEXCON, IACP, and LEDA Washington

Great conversations at TEXCON, IACP, and LEDA Washington

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the AirData booth at TEXCON in Arlington, IACP in Orlando, and LEDA Washington. It was great to hear how your DFR and public safety programs are growing, and what you’d like to see from AirData next.

Next stop: ElevateUAV in Miami. Details are in On the calendar below.

Industry news

FAA Part 108 rule status and test site funding

US

The FAA says Part 108 is at the 10-yard line

The final BVLOS rule has been under White House review since July, and the FAA hopes to publish by year end. It also awarded $12 million to 19 test-site projects. If your program plans to fly under Part 108, Dustin’s readiness post above is a practical place to start while the final text is pending.

Read the coverage
How seven regulators are approaching routine BVLOS

Global

How seven regulators are making BVLOS routine

Canada, Australia, Brazil, and the UK are each writing BVLOS into their regulations instead of handling it case by case. Worth a read if you fly in more than one country, or want a sense of where the US rule fits internationally.

Read the comparison
New state drone laws and flight restrictions

US

States are writing their own flight restrictions

California, Arizona, and Alabama now all restrict flights over ticketed events, with different boundaries, exemptions, and penalties. Operators say the rules are getting hard to track across state lines, so if you fly near large events or in more than one state, check each state’s rules before the flight.

Read the story

Product updates

Most of this month’s releases are about fleet and asset management: seeing your whole fleet at a glance, booking equipment, and tracking maintenance down to individual parts. There are also new dashboards, report options, and updates to Pilots and Missions.

Fleet and asset management

New Fleet Overview Enterprise only

View your entire drone fleet in one place, filtered by checkout status, grounded aircraft, or last check-in, in list or thumbnail view. View your fleet

New Equipment Booking & Calendar View Asset Management add-on required

Reserve drones and equipment independently of missions, and check availability in the new Calendar View, so teams sharing a fleet can see what’s free before they plan. Open the calendar

Custom Drone Types & Maintenance Profiles Asset Management add-on required

Create custom drone types with their own parts and maintenance requirements, or start from 30 built-in manufacturer profiles. Set up drone types

Part-Level Maintenance, Defect Tracking & Reporting Asset Management add-on required

Track maintenance, service history, and defects for individual components like propellers, motors, and parachutes. Maintenance and equipment reports now include it all. Track part maintenance

Expanded Maintenance Tracking for Items Asset Management add-on required

Schedule one-time or recurring maintenance for cameras, remotes, Remote ID modules, and more. New Items inherit their category’s schedule automatically. View Item maintenance

Mobile Maintenance & Defect Reporting Asset Management add-on required

Scan an equipment QR code in the mobile app to view part details and history, log services, and report defects from the field.

Every open defect in one report Asset Management add-on

Every defect logged across your equipment in one report. Pilots can log one in the field by scanning a QR code. Learn more

Dashboards and reports

New Operations and Safety dashboards Enterprise only

Flight activity, fleet utilization, maintenance, compliance, and alerts in one view under the Home tab. Open your dashboard

New report designs, with maps and your logo

Standard Flight Reports have a new look, and can now carry an overview map, your logo, landing time, and checklist status. See your reports

Section reports by drone, pilot, or group Enterprise only

The new Section By option in Standard Flight Reports splits reports by drone, pilot, or flight group. Create a report

Pilots and missions

Two updates to the Pilots table

See each pilot’s night hours over the last 30, 60, and 90 days, set inactivity alerts to require a minimum, and toggle inactive pilots off to focus on your active crew. View pilots

Two updates to Missions Enterprise only

Route missions to the right approvers by risk score, airspace, or mission type, and auto-approve the routine ones. The new Mission Summary tracks scheduled, flown, approved, and pending missions for any date range. Open missions

New aircraft

  • Lucid Bots Sherpa
  • RigiTech Eiger
  • Censys Sentaero 6

Start uploading

See everything that shipped

Tip of the month

Replay your flight second by second

Every flight comes with its full telemetry as well as the summary, so you can look back at altitude, signal strength, wind, warnings, and aircraft behavior from takeoff to landing. It’s useful for incident reviews and training debriefs, or just for understanding why a flight went the way it did.

To find it: open any flight, then click the 3D Player tab.

On the calendar

Nov 17 – 18

ElevateUAV: catch us in Miami

Gulfstream Park, Hallandale Beach. Live drone demos, manufacturer sessions, and enterprise UAS conversations. Use code AIR20 for 20% off registration.

Dec 6 – 10

IHEEP: see you in Austin

JW Marriott Austin. The International Highway Engineering Exchange Program brings together DOTs, transportation engineers, and agency leaders to share new technology and best practices.

Follow us on LinkedIn for updates

Staff spotlight

Trevor Hall, VP of Customer Success at AirData

Meet Trevor Hall

VP of Customer Success

Trevor has spent 6.5 years making sure teams flying with AirData get real value from the platform, and that their feedback reaches the people building it. He also leads our customer success team, which he says mostly means taking credit for their good work.

What excites him most is watching drone programs grow up, from a couple of drones and a spreadsheet to a full record of every flight.

Outside of work, Trevor and his wife recently welcomed their third daughter, leaving him outnumbered four to one. You’ll find him on San Diego’s trails on his e-mountain bike, mostly for the help up the hills.

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