Drone delivery is closer to reality than you think

It is finally official! The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has finally awarded the United Parcel Service (UPS) a full Part 135 certification to operate as a Commercial Air Carrier. The certification will allow the company to fly multiple drones with cargo that weighs more than 55 pounds, beyond the line of sight, and conduct night time operations. This move is a game changer and sets the United Parcel Service up to be the leader in this new and exciting technology field.

This historic move has now made UPS the first of only two US companies to possess such a certification. The certification allows UPS to utilize multiple drones for commercial application but limits their use to operations on medical campuses only. UPS has been testing and conducting drone deliveries of medical supply samples at the Wake Medical hospital in Raleigh, NC. These deliveries are performed with the hopes of collecting valuable data that will prove the reliability and safety of their drone delivery service. Hopefully paving the way forward to expand service to more hospitals and campus environments around the country and setting the standards for safe operations for residential rural areas and commercial delivery.

Despite the appeal and significant cost saving, there have been growing concerns for privacy and safety. The FAA has been slow to move and standardize commercial drone operations, but believes that allowing small controlled operations will allow for the collection of data that is needed to provide standards, policies, guidelines, and safe commercial drone operations while sharing the national airspace system.

For continued operations at Wake Medical Hospital, the UPS along with the FAA have established strict and rigorous safety guidelines required for flight operations. During trials, the UPS conducted over 1,000 successful fights without incident (NPR, 2018). Operations have been limited to the Wake Medical Hospital Campus only with drone remote pilot operators monitoring the skies during operation.

All in all, the Wake Medical Hospital drone trials and operations have been a major success for the hospital and UPS. UPS believes that these continued operations are paving a exciting path forward by creating new innovations and solutions that will provide new services for customers (UPS, 2019).

References

NPR. (2018). Drone delivery is one step closer to reality. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2019/10/18/770898952/drone-delivery-is-one-step-closer-to-reality

Peters, J. (2019). UPS just won FAA approval to fly as many delivery drones as it wants. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/1/20893655/ups-faa-approval-delivery-drones-airline-amazon-air-uber-eats-alphabet-wing

Rupprecht Law. (2019). Drone delivery – 3 big legal problems (2019) -. Retrieved from https://jrupprechtlaw.com/amazon-drone-delivery-3-major-legal-problems-amazon-prime-air/

UPS. (2019). UPS flight forward is changing the world of drone delivery. Retrieved from https://www.ups.com/us/en/services/shipping-services/flight-forward-drones.pages