In light of anticipation and remarks from the FAA’s Chief of Aviation Safety, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has formally declared a six-month postponement for the compliance of the Remote ID for Drones regulations, pushing the deadline to March 16, 2024.

Originally, Remote ID compliance was slated for September 16, 2023. However, as the date approached, speculation about a potential delay intensified.

A significant hurdle for drone operators has been the back-order status of many Remote ID modules, making immediate compliance challenging, if not impossible, for many.

In a press statement, the FAA said:

FAA Extends Remote ID Enforcement Date Six Months

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Drone pilots who are unable to comply with the broadcast requirement of the Remote ID Rule will now have until March 16, 2024, to equip their aircraft. After that date, operators could face fines and suspension or revocation of pilot certificates.

In making this decision, the FAA recognizes the unanticipated issues that some operators are experiencing finding some remote identification broadcast modules.

Drone pilots can meet this deadline by purchasing a standard Remote ID equipped drone from a manufacturer or purchasing a Remote ID broadcast module which can be affixed to existing drones that do not have Remote ID equipment.

Remote ID acts like a digital license plate and will help the FAA, law enforcement, and other federal agencies find the control station when a drone appears to be flying in an unsafe manner or where it is not allowed to fly.

Learn more here.

Remote ID for older DJI Drones

The postponement of the enforcement of Remote ID comes as a relief for operators using certain older, non-compliant DJI drones. For those wielding models like the DJI Mavic 2 or DJI Phantom 4, compliance will only be achieved following a firmware update from DJI, anticipated for release later this year. (Refer to the table below for details.)

Fortunately, with Remote ID compliance now extended to March 16, 2024, owners of these ‘vintage’ DJI models have been granted a reprieve.