Before we discussed the different things happening in the world of drone deliveries from the hospitals in North Carolina all the way over to Dubai and China. Just this past week UPS has applied for their part 135 certification which would allow them to start delivering packages via UAV’s (drones). If they can pull this off and word on the street is they are hoping too before the end of the year they will ‘have one of the first fully-certified, revenue-generating drone operations in the United States’ according to the article in UAS Magazine.
Scott Price the UPS Chief Transformation and Strategy Officer had this to say “UPS is committed to using technology to transform the way we do business, UPS’s formation of a drone delivery company and application to begin regular operations under this level of certification is historic for UPS and for the drone and logistics industries.”
Drone deliveries aren’t just a things here in the states as we spoke about in our last blog post and last month there was a VTOL (vertical takeoff & landing drone) that completed a 50 mile delivery in 28 minutes over in the Bahamas. The drone flew over both land & water and is able to transport perishables, mail, mechanical parts, and medicine.
Head to the FAA website for rules & regs regarding part 135 operations but basically it applies to air carriers & operators. Under this part 135 certification, UPS will be allowed to fly over people, fly at night and also fly beyond visual line of sight (bvlos.) These three factors are big in the UAV community right now because these are big no no’s for any other drone operators. It can be a very hard and lengthy process to receive any of those waivers.
Morgan Stanley has stated that by the year 2040 autonomous urban aircrafts could be a $1.5 trillion market! Crazy!!!
Let’s face it, drones are here to stay and every day we are discovering more and more reasons they are useful. Drones can free up those in mundane jobs to be more creative and think outside the box. Let’s get the creative juices flowing and start preparing for the drones of the future!
UAS Magazine : http://www.uasmagazine.com/articles/2050/with-ups-flight-forward-drone-delivery-operations-near-reality
Verge Magazine : https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/23/20707470/ups-drone-delivery-faa-certification-approval
Morgan Stanley : https://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/autonomous-aircraft
FAA Part 135 : https://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/sas/135_certification/cert_process/
Fox News : http://www.fox5ny.com/news/drone-makes-first-commercial-delivery-in-the-bahamas
