For a long time, UPS was waiting for approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate drone airline. Recently, the FAA gave UPS full part 135 Standard Certification. This is a huge achievement for UPS as this gave the company a lead over competitors Alphabet Inc and Amazon.com Inc. UPS Inc will be the first to work on US drone delivery business.
In this post, we have talked about this in detail.
What Does Part 135 Standard Certification Allows UPS to do?
According to UPS, this certificate will enable them to grow their delivery service. This will allow them to operate well in campus settings like universities and hospitals. The company will work on residential deliveries as well, but it is still years away.
Moreover, this is a permit for UPS to pilot drones that are beyond their line of sight. It is a wonderful opportunity to open doors for expansion of Flight Forward. UPS pilots drone flights for its customer, Raleigh, North Carolina’s WakeMed Health & Hospitals. After the approval of FFA, the carrier has doubled its drone flights.
This project is not a test or a prototype. It is a business that is capable of moving tissue and blood samples from the laboratory of the hospital from different points in the main hospital building. Thanks to the certification, the Flight Forward will not need government approval for adding delivery projects to other campuses.
Additionally, UPS is monitoring drone deliveries in corporate, university, and hospital campuses. According to the Secretary of Transportation, it is a huge step towards safely and seamlessly integrating drones into the airspace of the US.
This certification allows UPS Flight Forward to pilot multiple drones under one certificate. Previously, UPS has conducted a test for checking the performance of drones for commercial deliveries over water. The test also focused on making residential delivery a success.
Other Companies Working on Drone Technology
Though no company has achieved this certification so far, many companies are trying to get on the bandwagon of drones. Earlier this year, Amazon was awarded a patent for surveillance drones. Uber also followed suit and conducted a drone delivery. Moreover, Google also tried to deliver products using drones. It tested the drone by delivering burritos for Chipotle. Wing, an aviation unit of Google’s sister company Alphabet, is the closest to launching drone delivery system. It has partnered up with Walgreens and FedEx for home deliveries in Christiansburg, Virginia. They have a limited area to conduct a test and flights are limited to only highly dense and populated area.
Therefore, the blessing from the FAA is an excellent opportunity for UPS’s Flight Forward division to start a drone delivery system. This will make this carrier the largest carrier in the world. UPS has proved that there is a need for drone delivery in the healthcare field. Drone delivery will decrease the time in transit leading to improved efficiency. This will even enable healthcare professionals to serve and treat their patients in a better way.
