The White House has issued a highly anticipated Executive Order aimed at improving the competitiveness of the U.S. commercial space industry. The Order, titled “Enabling Competition in the Commercial Space Industry,” was issued on August 13, 2025 and directs multiple federal agencies to overhaul regulatory requirements in four key areas: (1) commercial launch and reentry licensing, (2) spaceport infrastructure, (3) novel space authorizations, and (4) leadership and accountability. A high-level overview of the EO’s provisions in each of these areas is below.

Commercial Launch and Reentry Licensing: The EO orders a thorough overhaul of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) launch and reentry regulations, contained in 14 CFR Part 450, instructing the FAA to “reevaluate, amend or rescind” Part 450 requirements, including determining if certain types of launch vehicle should be subject to less stringent licensing requirements.

Continue Reading White House Issues Executive Order to Accelerate Commercial Space Activities

A U.S. District Court judge last week granted American Airlines’ motion to decertify several subclasses of pilots in a suit alleging the airline wrongly denied its pilots pay and profit-sharing credit for absences for short-term military leave because “[o]ne size does not fit all” when it came to the class claims. The decision is a dramatic pivot in the long-running Scanlan v. American Airlines case, which will now continue only on behalf of the two named plaintiffs rather than as a class action.

Continue Reading District Court Decertifies Class in Scanlan v. American Airlines

The FAA recently released its long-anticipated proposed rule on Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operations—a major step toward enabling more advanced and scalable commercial drone use in the U.S. The rule proposes a new regulatory framework with defined operational categories, right-of-way rules, and requirements for remote pilot qualifications, equipping industry stakeholders with clearer paths to compliance and innovation.

To help clients navigate this evolving landscape, Crowell is launching a series of alerts unpacking key developments in BVLOS regulation, Executive Orders on drones and AI, and the broader legal and security frameworks shaping the future of flight.

Stay tuned as we break down what these regulatory shifts mean for your business, your operations, and your competitive edge.

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Automated vehicles (AVs) have received heightened attention from the automotive industry and regulators this summer when it comes to improving and expanding AV technology in the US. To learn more, please read our Client Alert Summer 2025 Autonomous Vehicle Developments.

A recent Supreme Court petition in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II LLC et al. seeks to resolve a deepening circuit split over whether state-law negligence claims against freight brokers are preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA). While courts broadly agree that the FAAAA preempts state laws “relating to a price, route, or service of any motor carrier,” they diverge on whether the statute’s “safety exception” —which provides in relevant part that the FAAAA “shall not restrict the safety regulatory authority of a State with respect to motor vehicles”—permits claims for negligent hiring or selection against brokers.

Continue Reading Supreme Court Asked to Resolve Circuit Split on Freight Broker Liability
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In May 2025, the Trump Administration, asserting Executive authority, terminated the three Democratic Commissioners of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. On June 13, 2025, a Maryland district court aborted the without-cause termination while a legal challenge proceeds, leaving the Commissioners in place. No longer.

Continue Reading Commission in Limbo: SCOTUS Decision Puts CPSC Democrats Back Out of Action

On June 27, in Trump v. Casa, the Supreme Court held that federal courts lack equitable authority to issue “nationwide”—or, using the Court’s preferred parlance, “universal”—injunctions. To learn more, please read our Client Alert Trump v. Casa: Nationwide Injunctions And The Class Action Loophole.

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The European Commission has for the first time issued informal guidance under its revised 2022 Notice relating to “novel and unresolved” competition law questions. The two guidance letters, issued on July 9, 2025, both concern the transport sector. The first letter addresses a sustainability agreement aimed at reducing CO2 emissions in European ports by facilitating the transition to battery-electric container-handling equipment, the second looks at an automotive licensing negotiation group for technologies covered by standard essential patents.

To learn more, please read our Client Alert The European Commission issues competition guidance in the transport sector.

On June 30, 2025, the Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General (DOT OIG) released its audit report assessing the FAA’s efforts to advance beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operations outside the parameters of existing drone regulations.  Among many findings, DOT OIG found that the FAA has approved increasingly complex BVLOS drone operations but identified several shortcomings with respect to the agency’s ability to leverage its industry partnership programs in this space, such as the BEYOND program. The report identified seven recommendations to improve the FAA’s efforts to advance BVLOS operations, many of which are focused on creating efficiencies for and standardizing processes across the FAA’s partnership programs. 

When will the CPSC regulate micromobility products?  

On June 20, 2025, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) re-noticed a proposed rule (“the notice” or “NPR”) on “Lithium-Ion Batteries Used in Micromobility Products and Electrical Systems of Micromobility Products Containing Such Batteries,” which it withdrew just days later. The notice has had an unusually erratic past – it was (1) voted on by the five-person commission in April, (2) initially noticed in early May, (3) withdrawn, (4) re-noticed in June, and (5) again withdrawn. The first withdrawal in May was due to President Trump’s firing of the three Democratic CPSC Commissioners who voted to issue the notice (the two Republicans on the Commission voted against it). After the Democratic Commissioners were reinstated, and the notice was reissued, it appeared that a micromobility rule was finally on its way. However, it was again removed – this time without explanation.

Continue Reading Federal Micromobility Regulations – the Up and Coming