Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) have gained widespread adoption across a diverse range of applications. This has introduced operational complexities within shared airspaces and an increase in reported incidents, raising safety concerns. In response, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is developing a UAS Traffic Management (UTM) system to control access to airspace based on an sUAS's predicted ability to safely complete its mission. However, a fully automated system capable of swiftly approving or denying flight requests can be prone to bias and must consider safety, transparency, and fairness to diverse stakeholders. In this paper, we present an initial study that explores stakeholders' perspectives on factors that should be considered in an automated system. Results indicate flight characteristics and environmental conditions were perceived as most important but pilot and drone capabilities should also be considered. Further, several respondents indicated an aversion to any AI-supported automation, highlighting the need for full transparency in automated decision-making. Results provide a societal perspective on the challenges of automating UTM flight authorization decisions and help frame the ongoing design of a solution acceptable to the broader sUAS community.

翻译：小型无人机系统（sUAS）已广泛应用于各类场景，但共享空域的运行复杂性随之增加，且事故报告频率上升，引发安全关切。为此，美国联邦航空管理局（FAA）正构建无人机系统交通管理（UTM）体系，通过评估sUAS安全完成任务的预测能力来控制空域准入权限。然而，完全自动化的飞行请求快速审批系统易产生偏差，需兼顾安全性、透明度及多元利益主体的公平性。本文通过初步研究，探索利益相关者对自动化系统应考虑因素的认知。结果表明，飞行特性与环境条件被视为最核心要素，但飞行员与无人机能力同样需纳入考量。此外，多位受访者明确表示抵触任何形式的人工智能辅助自动化，强调自动化决策需保持完全透明。研究成果从社会视角揭示了UTM飞行授权决策自动化的挑战，为构建获更广泛sUAS社群接受的解决方案提供了设计框架。