Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration
Accelerating Operational Alignment Across the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization
Background
The FAA faced (and still faces) a high-stakes challenge: integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS). Within the Air Traffic Organization (ATO), this mission demanded seamless coordination across multiple departments yet critical information was trapped in silos.
The Challenge
ATO stakeholders lacked a unified platform for UAS-related updates, decisions, and priorities. Senior leadership was often out of sync with frontline operational realities. Key UAS initiatives risked duplication or stagnation due to disjointed communication.
Fragmented communication delayed the FAA’s ability to safely and efficiently bring drones into U.S. airspace — an urgent mission given the pace of UAS innovation and evolving regulatory pressure.
Staff across the Program Management Organization (PMO) and Mission Support Services (MSS) were working in parallel without alignment leading to rework, confusion, and missed opportunities for operational synergy.
The Approach
Evans utilized strategic communication protocols and stakeholder alignment. The goal: collapse silos, accelerate coordination, and embed a sustainable model for cross-unit engagement.
Key Implementation Highlights:
- Conducted targeted interviews to map communication pain points and identify mission-critical information flows
- Authored enterprise-grade ATO UAS Strategic Communications Plan tailored to the FAA’s operational complexity
- Designed the UAS Communications Working Group to institutionalize alignment across lines of business
- Delivered change guidance on aligning messaging with ATO’s evolving UAS posture
- Developed high-impact communications tools improving time-to-market for UAS operators
The Results
- Unified Operational Voice: Established cross-functional workstreams that aligned ATO lines of business and integrated them with FAA-wide UAS initiatives, creating a cohesive approach to airspace integration.
- Influence Elevated: Integrated air traffic requirements and expertise in Enterprise UAS communications, ensuring operational expertise directly shaped agency-wide decisions on UAS matters.
- Streamlined Information Flow: Implemented time-sensitive executive operations reports that became essential to COO-level decision-making, while developing field coordination mechanisms through biweekly sessions that accelerated issue resolution.
- Knowledge Management Transformation: Centralized a UAS information hub on the FAA’s Knowledge Services Network (KSN) and deployed standardized messaging agency-wide, reducing redundancy and minimizing confusion across stakeholders.
- Future-Ready Communications Infrastructure: Established scalable frameworks for ongoing education and engagement, positioning ATO to respond more effectively to evolving UAS technologies and policy shifts.
The Tradeoff of Not Acting
Without Evans’ intervention, the FAA risked:
- Delayed UAS integration due to fragmented internal communication
- Inconsistent messaging that could erode public and stakeholder trust
- Missed regulatory windows due to slow internal alignment
- Reduced field readiness caused by lack of coordinated knowledge transfer
- Wasted resources through duplicated efforts and lack of process clarity
