Amazon has passed a major milestone on their road toward drone package delivery. The company has recently announced that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has granted a Part 135 certificate, which essentially allows Amazon Prime Air to operate as an official air carrier. This decision will allow the online retail giant to use drone technology to make commercial deliveries, as a trial program.
The Part 135 certificate signifies that the FAA has thoroughly analyzed Amazon’s technology and Prime Air program and confirms that it complies with federal safety and operations guidelines.
The overall objective of the drone delivery program is to offer consumers 30-60 minute delivery time after the order is placed on the website. This would apply to certain items in certain markets. Drone delivery has become more popular of late as the COVID-19 pandemic has driven more and more people to stay home to shop.
Not only will drones be able to satisfy the growing need for consumers to have products in hand faster, but the technology will also serve a healthcare need by delivering emergency supplies or critically-needed medication.
A huge advantage that will be serving the needs of consumers is that drones will be able to deliver packages only when the customer is home, instead of leaving products on the doorstep. The delivery time will also be cut down by offering faster delivery to hard-to-reach locations like high balconies or secured yards. One Amazon official predicts that all houses and apartments will be equipped with drone landing pads in years to come.
The FAA’s decision is historical not only for the Amazon company, but for the delivery industry as a whole as it continues to grow in market share. Similar approvals have been granted to Google and UPS, which assures that there will be immediate competition and price oversight by the government.
Alphabet’s Wing, Google’s parent company, has already received Part 135 approval and has partnered with Walgreen’s and FedEx who are already making drone deliveries in northern Virginia and has approval from the Australian government to make drone deliveries in Canberra.
Additionally, UPS Flight Forward received Part 135 approval and has partnered with hospitals to increase the efficiency of healthcare operations and transit of emergency medications and supplies, making huge improvements to the patient experience.
Drone delivery is still in early development as engineers seek ways to face major limitations such as wind, cold, heat, high buildings, powerlines, etc. Not to mention the current range is limited to six to eight miles. Drones have been attacked by birds as well.
Amazon seems to be ahead of the race with its latest drone model, the MK27. This model utilizes artificial intelligence to make smarter decisions when faced with some of these obstacles. If it is determined the obstacle cannot be averted, the drone will delay delivery or cancel their entire flight. This type of decision-making is typically made by a human pilot, but Amazon’s AI technology uses proprietary computer vision and machine learning algorithms to navigate obstacles.
In terms of future regulatory hurdles for drone delivery, the FAA is looking at framework for regulations for flying drones over crowds, requiring drones to broadcast their identities and locations, autonomous flight rules, and acceptable levels of noise. All of this is projected to be resolved by the end of 2021.