Amazon petitions FAA for commercial drone ops exemption 

In addition to wide- and narrowbody freighters joining the Amazon Air fleet, Prime Air drones may soon begin delivering Amazon purchases directly to customer doorsteps. Next in the series of the broader air cargo industry’s commercial drone saga, Amazon Prime Air submitted a petition to the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) yesterday that, if […]

• Chelsea Toczauer
• August 9, 2019

UPS seeks airline-type status for long-distance drone deliveries

United Parcel Service is seeking approval to operate delivery drones under the same rules as a private jet service, unlocking the potential to carry health-care packages over long distances between hospitals. The company is working with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to obtain Part 135 certification this year, a step toward freeing it from current commercial […]

• Bloomberg News
• July 23, 2019

Amazon aims to grow cargo drone team in the UK [VIDEO]

Amazon is aiming to add more than 2,000 technology workers to its United Kingdom team, the company announced in a 3 July press release. While the statement noted roles include “engineers, software developers, data scientists and cloud and machine learning experts,” Bloomberg reported that Amazon’s Prime Air cargo drone service is among the technology areas new […]

• Caryn Livingston
• July 5, 2019

Boeing’s autonomous aircraft prototype completes first flight [VIDEO]

A prototype autonomous passenger air vehicle (PAV), developed by Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences under the leadership of the Boeing NeXt division, successfully completed its first test flight in Virginia this week. Although the PAV is designed for passenger transport, the technology presents major opportunities for the future of autonomous and remote pilot cargo operations. […]

• Caryn Livingston
• January 25, 2019

SF’s large-scale cargo drone moves closer to commercialization after successful flight

Shenzhen-based SF Express announced this week that its Feihong-98 unmanned large cargo drone completed a successful test flight at the company’s Baotou test facility in Inner Mongolia.  SF is preparing to launch small-scale commercialization of the drone within 3-5 years, according to local media sources. Developed in partnership with the China Academy of Aerospace Electronics […]

• Chelsea Toczauer
• October 17, 2018

Boeing unveils its answer to last-mile deliveries with UAV prototype [VIDEO]

This week, Boeing unveiled and completed initial flight tests of its fully-functional unmanned cargo aerial vehicle (CAV) prototype; the first of its kind for the aerospace goliath. Although analysts have long predicted that drones were on course to transform the logistics sector, the larger issue has been receiving operational clearance from regulators. Boeing’s experience in […]

• Lewis King
• January 12, 2018

Who is flying this airplane?

Today, If you ask “Who is flying this plane?” the answer will be “Captain Smith and First Officer Jones.” And that will be true whether the airplane in question is carrying passengers or freight or both. Tomorrow? Probably the same. But the day after? Think about your last visit to a big airport. To get […]

• David Harris
• December 13, 2017

CAAC to regulate UAVs weighing over 25kgs

Civil aviation authorities around the globe are just starting to come to terms with how to regulate UAVs and drones. Most recently, the Civil Aviation Administration of China revealed that it would focus much of its attention on larger drones, weighing more than 25kgs. From a feasibility standpoint, UAV technologies will soon mature to a […]

• Charles Kauffman
• December 4, 2017