0006 - Flight Planning Framing over Authorization Request

Andi Lamprecht ·2026-05-11· 1 min read· Draft

Decision

The pilot experience will be framed as “planning a flight”, not “requesting authorization.” Authorization is a consequence of the flight plan intersecting a jurisdiction, not the primary user action.

Context

Jake raised that framing the pilot action as “Request Authorization” is too narrow:

• Many jurisdictions won’t grant authorization through our tool — they verify externally-issued authorizations
• The AirMap model (which the audience knows) was “plan a flight” — if authorization is needed, the system handles it
• Saying “request authorization” implies we are the authorization provider, which may not always be true
• Two workflows exist: (1) we are the authorization provider, (2) pilot declares an external authorization and the authority verifies it

Both workflows start the same way: pilot plans a flight with area/trajectory, drone, and time window. The system determines which jurisdictions are intersected and routes accordingly.

Consequences

• UI button renamed from “Request Authorization” to “New Flight” or equivalent
• Backend still processes authorization — the rename is UX/storytelling, not architectural
• Supports future addition of “declare external authorization” flow alongside “request authorization” flow
• Demo talk track avoids claiming we replace existing authorization methods