2026 Agenda

As Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) and increasingly automated aircraft move closer to commercial operations, aviation must evolve beyond today’s human-centric flight rules to safely support high-density, highly automated operations.
This session explores the Concept of Operations for Automated Flight Rules (AFR), a proposed new operating paradigm designed to complement existing Visual Flight Rules (VFR) and Instrument Flight Rules (IFR). AFR leverages automation across aircraft, airspace, and aerodromes through advanced traffic management, digital communications, integrated detect-and-avoid systems, and automated decision-making.
Panelists will discuss how AFR can enable scalable Urban Air Mobility operations, increase airspace efficiency, support both crewed and uncrewed aircraft, and lay the foundation for the next era of safe, automated aviation.