AirMap was once the dominant drone airspace app for commercial pilots. At its peak it had LAANC integration, TFR overlays, a clean mobile interface, and a large user base. Many Part 107 pilots built their preflight workflow around it.
That product is effectively gone for individual pilots.
What Happened to AirMap
AirMap pivoted its business model toward enterprise UTM (Unmanned Traffic Management) -- the infrastructure layer that large-scale drone operations, BVLOS flights, and drone delivery networks need to coordinate with each other and with ATC.
This is a legitimate and important business. Managing thousands of autonomous drone flights requires something fundamentally different from an app that tells a solo pilot whether their location is in Class D airspace.
The consequence for individual pilots: the consumer-facing AirMap product received less and less development attention. LAANC integration remained functional in some markets but the broader feature set stagnated. The community that had grown around the app scattered to other tools.
AirMap still exists as a company and still operates enterprise services. But for a Part 107 pilot running a real estate shoot or construction inspection, it is no longer a practical first choice.
What Replaced It
The market fragmented after AirMap's pivot. Several tools emerged to fill different parts of the gap:
Aloft (formerly Kittyhawk) absorbed some of the Kittyhawk user base after that platform shut down. Aloft focuses on commercial operators and fleet management alongside individual pilot tools. LAANC-certified.
DroneUp is primarily known as a labor marketplace for drone pilots but also offers a LAANC-certified preflight app. Mainly used by pilots in their network.
SkyGrid provides airspace intelligence and LAANC services with a stronger focus on autonomous operations infrastructure, but maintains individual pilot tools.
UAS SkyCheck (uas-skycheck.app) was built specifically for the individual Part 107 pilot gap that AirMap's enterprise pivot created. Single-location preflight check with airspace class, LAANC status, live TFRs with expiry countdown, METAR weather, 11,269 restricted zones, GPS health, and a 0-100 safety score with every deduction explained. No fleet management, no enterprise pricing -- just the preflight check. Free, no account required.
What the Replacement Gap Revealed
When AirMap moved upmarket, it became clear that the tools built for individual pilots had been doing much less than pilots assumed. The airspace classification and basic TFR overlay that most apps provided was a starting point, not a complete preflight.
A complete preflight for Part 107 operations requires:
- Airspace classification with LAANC ceiling data
- Live TFR verification (not cached)
- Current METAR and TAF from the nearest reporting station
- Restricted zone check covering the 22+ zone types that affect commercial operations
- Weather minimums verification against 14 CFR 107.51
- Solar window for Part 107.29 compliance
- Documentation capability for client and regulatory records
Most apps that emerged after AirMap's pivot cover two or three of these. The gap between "shows you the airspace color" and "gives you a complete preflight picture" remains wider than most pilots realize.
The Current Landscape
There is no single dominant successor to AirMap for individual pilots. The tools that work well for commercial operators tend to be either:
- Free tools with limited scope -- B4UFLY covers airspace class, Aloft covers LAANC and TFRs, SkyVector covers sectional charts
- Enterprise platforms at enterprise prices -- designed for fleet operators running dozens of flights daily, not the solo pilot doing three jobs a week
UAS SkyCheck was built to fill the middle: a tool that gives individual Part 107 pilots a complete preflight picture without enterprise complexity or pricing. If you are looking for what AirMap used to be for the working pilot, this is the closest current equivalent.