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The association last week joined more than 50 aviation stakeholders in urging US congressional leaders to provide an additional $20 billion to complete the Brand New Air Traffic Control System modernization effort. In a Jul. 15 letter organized by the Modern Skies Coalition, the signatories warned that partial funding would prolong reliance on obsolete systems, increase long-term costs, and strain the National Airspace System. The coalition also called for continued bipartisan support for FAA Facilities and Equipment funding, congressional oversight, and development of a common automation platform for air traffic controllers.

Airbus Helicopters and Voyageur Aviation have signed an agreement for the first purchase order of the Airbus U030 Flexrotor uncrewed aerial system in Canada. Signed at the Farnborough International Airshow Jul. 21, the contract marks Voyageur as the official Canadian launch customer for the platform, introducing a highly advanced, mission-proven capability to the Canadian market.

Legislation seeks to improve pilot awareness, hazard marking, and reporting of temporary low-altitude obstructions. Alexandria, Virginia, Jul. 17, 2026 – Vertical Aviation International (VAI) applauds Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), for introducing the McCarty and Heideman Air Safety Enhancement Act, which strengthens aviation safety by requiring the FAA to review and update policies related to low-altitude […]

The FAA filed the rule, “Normalizing Unmanned Aircraft Systems Beyond Visual Line of Sight Operations,” with the US Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) on Jul. 10 for its review. Along with participating in the meeting process, VAI will be watching closely as the rule moves through review and will report to our members on its progress. OIRA review is one of the final stages in the federal rulemaking process before a rule may be cleared for publication.

The US General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract enables eligible federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial government agencies to procure CNC.Live through a streamlined, prenegotiated purchasing vehicle. CNC.Live, CNC Technologies’ cloud-based platform, provides operators custom aerial surveillance, data transmission, and counterterrorism solutions.

The decision comes following a successful demonstration of the detection device at the annual Search and Rescue Exercise in San Antonio, Texas, in May. BlueFly can be quickly attached to a drone to help locate people in areas of thick foliage, low visibility, and tough terrain.

VAI President and CEO François Lassale spoke to the group about the importance of working together across the aviation community to address safety challenges and emerging risks. The US Aviation Safety Team uses safety management system techniques to address potential systemic safety issues identified through ASIAS (Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing), industry forums, or FAA data. 

VAI Director of Regulatory Affairs Amber Harrison will moderate a panel of experts on the new US Department of Transportation program, including representatives from the FAA, the Florida Department of Transportation, and BETA Technologies.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) determined that the collisions with terrain the two aircraft suffered were likely due to rotor drive-belt failure.

The FAA proposes to supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2022-27-08, which applies to certain Bell Textron Canada Model 407 helicopters. AD 2022-27-08 requires inspecting the tail-boom attachment structure and reporting the inspection results. Since the FAA issued the AD, two additional broken upper-left tail-boom attachment bolts have been reported. The proposed AD would require repetitively inspecting the tail-boom attachment structure, performing a torque inspection, and replacing attachment hardware, among other tasks. Comments are due on this notice of proposed rulemaking by Aug. 31.