UPS sai FAA:n luvan kuljettaa droneilla paketteja maksua vastaan

[Ilkka Mäkelä 1 228]

Rahti- ja lähettiyhtiö UPS:n yksikkö Flight Forward on saanut FAA:lta ensimmäisenä virallisen Part 135-operaattoriluvan maksullisiin pakettikuljetuksiin droneilla, eli multikoptereilla. Lupa koskee koko USA:n aluetta, joten UPS:stä tulee tavallaan dronelentoyhtiö. Lähetysten määrää tai pakkausten maksimipainoa ei ole rajoitettu. UPS on kokeillut toimintaa yhteistyössä FAA:n kanssa ja aloitti luvan saatuaan lähettämällä lääketieteellisiä pakkauksia sairaalan alueelle.

Toiminta on toistaiseksi alkuvaiheissa mutta tulee kehittymään nopeasti. Toiminta alkaa lääketieteellisillä lähetyksillä mutta laajenee myöhemmin terveydenhoitoalan ulkopuolelle kysynnän mukaan.

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UPS announced today that it is the first to receive the official nod from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate a full “drone airline,” which will allow it to expand its current small drone delivery service pilots into a country-wide network.

In its announcement of the news, UPS said that it will start by building out its drone delivery solutions specific to hospital campuses nationwide in the U.S., and then to other industries outside of healthcare.

As soon as it was awarded the certification, it did a delivery for WakeMed hospital in Raleigh, N.C. using a Matternet drone, and it also became the first commercial operator to perform a drone delivery for an actual paying customer outside of line of sight thanks to an exemption it received from the government.

This certification, officially titled FAA’s “Part 135 Standard certification,” offers far-reaching and broad license to companies who attain it — much more freedom than any commercial drone operation has had previously in the U.S.

Obviously, it’s a huge win for UPS Flight Forward, which is the dedicated UPS subsidiary the company announced it had formed back in July to focus entirely on building out the company’s drone delivery business. But there’s still a lot left to do before you can expect UPS drones to be a regular fixture, or even at all visible in the lives of the average American.

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The FAA’s Part 135 Standard certification has no limits on the size or scope of operations. It is the highest level of certification, one that no other company has attained. UPS Flight Forward’s certificate permits the company to fly an unlimited number of drones with an unlimited number of remote operators in command. This enables UPS to scale its operations to meet customer demand. Part 135 Standard also permits the drone and cargo to exceed 55 pounds and fly at night, previous restrictions governing earlier UPS flights.

https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/01/ups-gets-faa-approval-to-operate-an-entire-drone-delivery-airline/