Amazon Gets OK for some Drone Deliveries, but Regular Flights for Everyone could Still be Many Years Away

Supply Chain Digest Says...   At the time, an Amazon executive said deliveries to shoppers would start “within months” - 14 months ago. What do you say? Click here to send us your comments Click here to see reader feedback

That target was obviously not reached, due to a variety of factors, notably extreme caution from the US Federal Aviation Administration, which initially issued a very conservative set of rules that placed many limiting requirements even for testing, such as no flying over people and 100% line of site in flight, both of which for all intents and purposes serving to ban commercial drone deliveries, even shutting down the store owner who was using drones to fly beer to ice fishers in tents.

Under the Trump administration, the rules were slowly pulled back, amid concerns in many quarters the restrictive rules would jeopardize America's position in the global race to develop drone technology.

But Amazon had a tough time getting into the game.

In May, 2018, the US Dept. of Transportation announced it had approved 10 drone trials, mostly involving state and local governments in partnership with drone technology providers. The approved tests varied widely, but a few did involve home deliveries of food and medicine. Among the technology providers were Google parent Alphabet Inc. and its Project Wing (including home deliveries in Virginia); a combined team of FedEx, Intel and General Electric (for inspecting planes and delivering aircraft parts at Memphis International Airport); and Uber (for food deliveries in San Diego).

Not on the list: Amazon.

Subsequently, the FAA approved two actual drone delivery programs.

In September, 2019, a combination of Alphabet's Wing Aviation, FedEx Express and Walgreens said they would to launch a first-of-its-kind drone delivery service in Christiansburg, Virginia in October, involving aerial delivery of a variety of food, medical and other goods.

In October, 2019, the FAA approved UPS to operate a drone airline to support deliveries of medical suppliers to hospital campuses around the country and to eventually provide solutions for customers beyond those in the healthcare industry. The broad approval gives UPS the ability to fly at night and out of sight of the operator. The approval allows the drones to carry cargo over 55 pounds.

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Now, Amazon finally gets on the board. The FAA said Monday that Amazon had received its third approval for drone delivery of parcels. While it doesn't mean that Amazon can start operating a broad-based consumer drone delivery service, it does allow the company to advance toward that goal.

The company can now use unmanned aircraft systems to deliver goods beyond the visual line of sight of the operator under a trial basis. Drone deliveries will first be used in low populated areas.

In a statement, Amazon said that the approval is an "important step," but noted that it is still testing drones. It did not provide a timeline of when it expected drones to begin making deliveries to shoppers.

In 2019, Amazon showed off fully electric, self-navigating drones that can carry parcels up to 5 pounds, dropping them in a consumer's backyard. At the time, an Amazon executive said deliveries to shoppers would start " within months" - 14 months ago.

Despite the good news for Amazon, the Tech Crunch web site noted that it is "still likely be many years before the regulatory and air traffic control infrastructure is updated to the point where [autonomous drone deliveries] that can happen regularly."

The FAA is set to finalize regulations for such operations by the end of the year that will include a framework for drones flying over people.

Any rection to Amazon's news? How soon do you think we will see real drone deliveries? Let us know your thoughts at the Feedback section below.