The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's Part 108 rule, the first standardized regulatory pathway for beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) drone delivery at scale, begins phasing in starting July 2026. The framework replaces the patchwork of waivers operators have relied on since 2019 and establishes a tiered certification regime based on aircraft capability, population density and operational risk.
What Part 108 changes
Part 108 creates three operational tiers, with Category 2 covering routine commercial package delivery at scale. Operators that demonstrate airspace traffic management capability, conformance to detect-and-avoid requirements and a clean safety record can certify under the new rule rather than negotiating bespoke exemptions. The FAA has signaled that Category 2 will be the workhorse path for retail and healthcare logistics deliveries.
Zipline's head start
South San Francisco-based Zipline already holds the FAA's first-ever approval for an airspace traffic management system for drone delivery, plus Part 135 authorization to deliver commercial packages beyond visual line of sight. The company has telegraphed plans to scale operations in Dallas-Fort Worth and the Salt Lake City metro under Part 108. Zipline has logged more than a million deliveries globally with health systems and retailers.
Wing and Walmart
Alphabet's Wing has been delivering packages in Dallas-Fort Worth since 2019 under Part 135 authority and partners with Walmart and DoorDash. The FAA last year cleared Wing and Zipline to operate simultaneously without visual observers across overlapping suburbs, a milestone that previewed the Part 108 era. Wing's investment in higher-payload aircraft positions it to compete head-to-head with Zipline on grocery and small-parcel runs.
Knock-on effects
Part 108 is expected to trigger a wave of new entrants, including logistics operators that have so far stayed on the sidelines. Amazon's Prime Air, Matternet and a long tail of last-mile startups all have applications staged for the first certification window. State and local airspace agreements will determine how quickly any one operator can saturate a metropolitan footprint.
Reporting based on coverage from The Flight Brief, Programming Helper, FAA newsroom releases and Zipline.