UPS might soon be dropping off packages across the US by drone. The Federal Aviation Administration granted the UPS Flight Forward subsidiary air carrier and operator certification, allowing it to use drones for commercial deliveries.
Flight Forward is the first company to claim the Part 135 Standard certification, and it’ll be able to operate an unlimited number of drones. The machines and their payloads can weigh more than 55 pounds and UPS can fly its drones at night.
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The company states that it is the first firm to obtain such a high-level certification for drones. An FAA spokesperson confirmed to Gizmodo, the “FAA approved the first standard air carrier certification for drone operations to UPS.” Google-parent Alphabet, Uber, and Amazon are racing to implement wide-scale drone delivery, and this development marks an early win for UPS in the race for unmanned commercial delivery.
Once UPS obtained the certification on September 27, it made the first Part 135- certified drone delivery, flying medical supplies to the WakeMed hospital campus in Raleigh, North Carolina. UPS aims to first use this clearance to start delivering packages to hospitals, but plans to expand to industries outside of healthcare, and eventually start making residential deliveries.
“When the (FAA) regulations are complete we certainly believe there are residential opportunities and other delivery opportunities that will help supplement the incredible group of drivers we have all over the world,” CEO David Abney told CNBC.
According to the FAA, the agency is processing six other Part 135 certificates submitted under the Unmanned Aircraft System Integration Pilot Program.
There’s no telling how long it will take for UPS to build a country-wide network that can deliver packages to doorsteps and the company still face many other restrictions and hurdles but now we know the FAA is on board with that vision of the future of commercial delivery.
