Amazon Prime Air Cleared for Takeoff
Just as when you thought that consumerism could not get any better from same-day delivery to free shipping deals, online shopping is about to jump to the next level.
Amazon today gets the approval of the Federal Aviation Administration to fly drone delivery trials. This is under its new venture Amazon Prime Air.
The modern technology service will take only approximately 30 minutes or less to deliver online shoppers’ orders to their doorstep.
The Bezos-owned firm will join the other technology juggernauts Alphabet Inc. and delivery courier UPS. These companies also secured the green light from the federal regulator to test commercial deliveries using drones last year.
It is the third drone delivery service to get the nod of the FAA.
For the record, the e-commerce frontrunner has been eyeing drone delivery as early as 2013. In an interview that year, Jeff Bezos noted that his company would make that possible in the next five years.
However, it took the company more than the target timeline due to constraints imposed by strict federal regulations.
Last year, the online shopping platform unveiled its electric, self-piloting drones. These can carry up to five pounds of goods and deliver within minutes, depending on the location.
Although the move is an essential step towards its vision of seamless and faster delivery, the company did not disclose when it will start delivering actual packages ordered by customers.
The certification is a giant leap towards making Amazon an official “drone airline”. This is according to AMZN vice president in charge of the drone delivery service.
He also added that this marks the FAA’s confidence in the retail behemoth’s operating and safety procedures that can one day benefit customers worldwide.
Expansion of Drone Flights
As soon as the approval headlined the technology news, the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed its nod.
It added that the regulatory body supports innovation related to the drone arena’s expansion. However, only under the condition that devices should follow due process to ensure the utmost safety.
Other technology enthusiasts have different opinions, as many smaller businesses are still in the stockpile of thousands of firms seeking approval.
To reiterate, only three so far have the green light, and they all operate large scale business.
Alpabet Inc.’s subsidiary “Wing” has partnered with Walgreens and FedEx Corp. and in the middle of conducting a handful of drone deliveries in Virginia since 2019.
Consequently, UPS has a much smaller scope through flying medical supplies in a hospital campus located in Raleigh, North Carolina.
On the other hand, Amazon did not disclose its test flights’ location nor the start date of the operation.
What is known is it previously conducted experimental deliveries in the United Kingdom. According to sources, it will target the US Northwest area extending up to Vancouver this time.
The approval came just at the right time when Amazon experienced skyrocketing sales due to the pandemic-imposed restrictions, which led to the introduction of the work-from-home scheme and similar mechanisms.
Thus, the revolutionary rise of online sales is propelled by consumer preference shift from traditional brick-and-mortar stores to digital ones.
Routine drone deliveries will take several years before actual operation, but everything can happen within a snap of a finger in the digital world.
