  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.
