Presently, Amazon is officially an air carrier. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) offered Amazon Prime Air the designation, which gives the company access to begin its first commercial delivery trials in the US. Amazon will make use of the hexagon-shaped next-generation hybrid drone it showed off last year.
The company has not actually released when ore where it will begin its commercial delivery trials, but it seems to have test sites in the Northwest and in the nearby Vancouver area. Amazon has also tested drones in the UK. Yet, we’re probably a few years away from a commercial drone delivery service. In part because the FAA still needs to define regulations beyond the trial phase.
“This certification is an important step forward for Prime Air and indicates the FAA’s confidence in Amazon’s operating and safety procedures for an autonomous drone delivery service that will one day deliver packages to our customers around the world,” David Carbon, an Amazon vice president, said in a statement.
Amazon is not the first drone operator to receive FAA approval. Alphabet subsidiary Wing and UPS are also operating FAA-approved trials. In Virginia, Wing is delivering over-the-counter meds, snacks, and gifts on behalf of FedEx, Walgreens, and a local retailer. UPS is delivering prescriptions for CVS in North Carolina.
Amazon has always kept discussion with its delivery ambitions for years out in the open, but the pandemic may serve as an added push for the company. Amazon has seen a huge uptick online sales in the past few months enough to double its profits last quarter. It has employed 100,000 additional workers, but it looks like delivery orders through flying and rolling delivery bots maybe another part of its plan to keep up with the added demand.
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