By: Dawn Zoldi
In a recent Dawn of Autonomy podcast, Alice Griffith, Senior Director of State and Commercial Aviation at Crown Innovations, described how her team helps in reshaping the future of air travel. Her perspective provided a behind-the-scenes look at how Crown Innovations enables safe and scalable integration of uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) and advanced air mobility (AAM) within the National Airspace System (NAS). Read on to learn exactly how they do that.
Decades of Bridging Transportation and Airspace
With more than two decades in multimodal logistics and aviation, Alice Griffith brings a unique and practical approach to the complex challenge of airspace modernization. Originally rooted in ground transportation, Griffith’s career has been marked by navigating regulatory landscapes and delivering technical solutions that move goods, data and now, aircraft seamlessly across various modes. Griffith’s experience, including her current service as Industry Secretary for the FAA Drone Safety Team, is now an instrumental part of Crown’s work.
Crown began 37 years ago as Crown Consulting, but its rebranding to Crown Innovations signals an evolution towards future-oriented problem solving for agencies like the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), NASA and the Department of Energy (DOE).
CEO Afzal I. Khan leads a team of 250 specialized professionals, all focused on advanced aviation and technology solutions that empower federal agencies, state governments, and commercial clients as they modernize their approach to airspace and airport management, and adoption of new technology. Griffith described the company as experts in creating niches for advanced aviation and serving as trusted partners for national agencies.
Reflecting on her current role, Griffith shared, “Coordination is the majority of what I spend my time doing…everything comes down to these public-private partnership formations. At the end of the day, there’s a need for communication and education to keep everyone knowing where that North Star is, in terms of AAM.” Her approach, informed by years of hands-on logistics, helps ensure new technologies connect meaningfully with real-world transportation planning and policy for state and local planners and stakeholders.
Services That Navigate NAS Integration for UAS and AAM
Crown’s impact comes from its high-touch services that guide clients through every phase of new airspace integration. When a state transportation agency or utility wants to employ drones or deploy AAM solutions, Crown steps in with actionable plans and strategic consulting tailored for success. The company stands at the intersection of technical leadership and collaborative strategy, helping stakeholders confidently bring emerging air mobility solutions into the heart of the National Airspace System (NAS).
Griffith noted, “Most of the work that we do revolves around the roadmap to start to publish an AAM plan. Infrastructure is a big consideration, but there’s so much more.”
The company enables clients with everything from feasibility studies and operational and regulatory planning to helping secure essential waivers for launching new aircraft modes into the national airspace system (NAS). Here’s the breakdown:
- Strategic Planning & Implementation: Crown crafts roadmaps for state DOTs, aviation bureaus, and commercial clients eager to implement advanced air mobility. Whether supporting market and economic impact studies or developing concepts of operation, Crown’s guidance helps clients secure vital waivers and regulatory approvals – “Most of the work that we do is advisory for what the roadmap needs to start to publish an AAM plan. What is unique to the State? Infrastructure is a big consideration, but there’s so much more.”
- Data Lifecycle Management & Analytics: Crown enables mapping, planning, and energy grid modernization, all critical for electrification initiatives at airports, hospitals, and early adopter communities. It supports agencies like the DOE in this endeavor with advanced data management for critical infrastructure.
- Infrastructure and Communications Engineering: Crown’s boots-on-the-ground capabilities include the installation and modernization of assets (towers, radar systems and communications technologies) that form the digital and physical backbone of airspace modernization.
- Regulatory Support & Safety Assessments: The company is a key ally in navigating the regulatory labyrinth associated with Part 107, the anticipated Part 108 and other FAA policy areas. Crown offers comprehensive support in waiver writing, safety and risk mitigation strategies,and command/control studies to enable clients to move confidently toward scalable, repeatable AAM operations.
- Program Design and Funding Navigation: By identifying and helping secure federal and state grant funding for clients with AAM ambitions, Crown highlights the importance of “finding the sources, applying for funding, and making sure that funding works towards a strategic end goal.”
Unlocking Value Through Real-World Use Impacts
Crown’s story has been written across the country in various projects that bridge planning, policy, and practical innovation. At DFW International Airport, the team helped develop NASA-backed vertiport integration plans. It helped to set requirements for the arrival of electric aircraft, from traffic flow to airspace design and operational safety. Their work for states like Ohio, North Carolina, and now Tennessee are helping to shift isolated pilot projects into coordinated, statewide strategies for advanced mobility.
The company’s expertise in network design and regulatory navigation has also supported utility providers seeking drone-in-the-box (DIB) and automated monitoring solutions, for integration at academic campuses, with state or city-wide scale, or for large utility acreage that crosses multiple states. Griffith recounted how Crown has empowered the SUNY healthcare system in New York to launch and manage over 7,000 UAS flights since 2019, delivering time-sensitive medical supplies and beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations for cancer treatments. Capturing Crown’s capacity to help clients build teams and processes for complex missions, she explained, “They (SUNY) created an innovation department specifically geared towards innovation planning within their healthcare organization. That structure was a key enabler.”
Crown’s published materials, which build on its real-world projects, include: NASA’s ARMB Sky for All Vision project, VAI’s Roadmap of AAM Operations, NASA’s High-Density Automated Vertiport CONOPS, Ohio’s Economic Impact and AAM Plan, North Carolina’s UAS AAM Airport Guidebook, and Pennsylvania’s studies for electrification and airport grid modernization. These provide essential guides for practitioners in mobility and infrastructure planning. They offer practical frameworks for deploying AAM solutions and show the value of strategic coordination for states, federal agencies, and commercial partners.
As more airports, hospitals, and public safety agencies begin to pilot electric and automated vehicles, Crown’s support in data lifecycle management and grid modernization will become even more essential.
Preparing for 2026 and Beyond
Crown Innovations, like many in the industry, remains excited for growth as new FAA regulations unfold and higher demands for UAS and AAM integration become reality. According to Griffith, in the next year, the company will continue expanding its communications planning, engineering and program support, and regulatory advisory for automation, public safety, healthcare, and energy sectors.
Griffith summarized the broader challenge her team intends to tackle. “Drones and connected ground vehicles are the first era of a new transportation revolution where both digital and physical infrastructures are being required to work together. That’s the beauty of why bringing everyone to the table to work together towards the same North Star is important,” she said.
Through strategic consulting, technical expertise and deep collaboration, Crown Innovations enables clients to adapt to new aviation technologies, expand their capabilities, and thrive as integrated partners in tomorrow’s connected sky.
Check out Crown’s library of published products – https://www.crownci.com/projects/.