Rep. Jay Obernolte has urged the FAA to regulate artificial intelligence in aviation rather than creating a standalone federal AI agency, arguing at NBAA-BACE 2026 that sector-specific oversight would better protect safety. The California Republican also highlighted commercial uses ranging from flight-path optimisation and hazard forecasting to AI-assisted charter pricing, including Google Gemini’s requests to Southern Sky Aviation for quotes.
Obernolte, a 6,200-hour pilot who has owned an Embraer Phenom 300 for 15 years, proposed a “hub-and-spoke” model. Under it, agencies such as the FAA would establish rules for industry applications, while the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Center for AI Standards and Innovation would provide testing tools and technical expertise. He contrasted the approach with the European Union’s framework, which can leave companies in regulated sectors dealing with multiple regulators.
He identified potential aviation uses for AI in analysing safety data for accident-warning signs, optimising flight paths and forecasting hazards such as lake-effect fog. However, he cautioned against unmonitored autonomous decisions in safety-critical applications.
Obernolte also distinguished Garmin’s Autoland from generative or neural-network AI, describing it as deterministic software that regulators can test case by case. Outside flight operations, Southern Sky Aviation president and CFO Donald Howell reported that Gemini had contacted the company twice for charter quotations. Obernolte recommended using a second algorithm to verify AI-generated prices.