LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- UPS has a new airline.
According to a news release, the logistics giant has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to operate a commercial drone airline. That airline, operated by UPS subsidiary UPS Flight Forward Inc., is expected to make it possible for the company to deliver packages of various weights and sizes via drone.
Even before getting the airline designation, UPS Flight Forward has operated more than 1,000 flights at WakeMed's hospital campus in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Initially, the company says it plans to expand its drone delivery service to further support hospital campuses around the country, and to provide solutions for customers beyond those in the healthcare industry.
"This is history in the making, and we aren't done yet," said David Abney, UPS chief executive officer, in a statement. "Our technology is opening doors for UPS and solving problems in unique ways for our customers. We will soon announce other steps to build out our infrastructure, expand services for healthcare customers and put drones to new uses in the future."
The certification granted by the FAA does not limit the size or scope of UPS' drone operations. That certification permits UPS to fly an unlimited number of drones with an unlimited number of remote operators in command. It also permits the drone and cargo to exceed 55 pounds and fly at night, though Scott Price, the company's chief strategy officer, says "we're not comfortable we have the hardware for that yet."
Operations will be limited to campus-like settings because FAA has not yet written regulations to allow commercial drone flights over populated areas. Price said UPS is eyeing "hundreds" of such sites in the U.S., including hospitals, colleges and office buildings.
"This is a big step forward in safety integrating unmanned aircraft systems into our airspace, expanding access to healthcare in North Carolina and building on the success of the national UAS Integration Pilot Program to maintain American leadership in unmanned aviation," said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao, in a statement.
UPS says that in the future, it plans to invest in "detect-and-avoid" technology to increase safety, as well as work with drone manufacturers to build new drones with ability to carry larger payloads.
UPS believes the earliest commercially viable uses of drones will be for same-day deliveries, for augmenting truck-borne deliveries in rural areas, and for larger drones that could carry cargo of up to a ton from one rural area to another. Price said the latter idea is still years away.
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