The Growth of the Commercial Drone Industry, its Economic Impact, and Projected Needs 2024-2045
Oklahoma is poised to become a major hub for the rapidly expanding commercial drone industry. The State offers vast uncongested airspace, infrastructure inspection needs, moderate regulation, and key industries like agriculture and energy that can benefit enormously from new technology made available by Unmanned Aerial Systems (abbreviated as UAS and often called drones.)
Currently, except for relatively rare FAA waivers, regulations require drones to be flown within visual line of sight (VLOS). At some point in the next few years, the FAA will approve Beyond the Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS), which will greatly increase the number of drone operations across Oklahoma and the entire country.
This paper provides a conservative forecast for new jobs and expenditures directly related to drone activity in the state of Oklahoma between 2024 and 2045. Our forecasts should be understood as “the minimum results possible. Actual results will be at least as large as the forecast and most likely larger.”
For instance, we estimate only drone pilot jobs, not software engineers, data processors, and assistants, which would likely double the jobs figure but not much more, as automation will keep their numbers about equal to those of drone pilots. We estimate direct economic activity, not indirect and induced, which would likely double the jobs figure again.
We use a conservative 25% market absorption rate, though the market could reach as much as a 50% absorption rate by 2045 depending on ease of regulations, popularity, and new efficiencies realized by businesses and residents.
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