A recently formed subsidiary of package-delivery giant United Parcel Services is set to operate a national drone airline system that’s unlimited in size and scope, after the Federal Aviation Administration issued the first-ever certification to do so.
According to announcements unveiled this week, UPS Flight Forward Inc. is the inaugural company to be issued the FAA’s Part 135 Standard certification—granting it the opportunity to expand its current network of Matternet unmanned aircrafts that transport medical items around one WakeMed campus in North Carolina into a delivery operation that reaches hospitals and health care facilities across the United States.
“This is a big step forward in safely integrating unmanned aircraft systems into our airspace, expanding access to healthcare in North Carolina and building on the success of the national [Unmanned Aircraft System] Integration Pilot Program to maintain American leadership in unmanned aviation,” Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said in a statement.
UPS announced that it stood up the subsidiary in late July and subsequently launched its application to be certified by the FAA to be one of the earliest operators of a revenue-generating drone operation network. The specific certification is highly restricted partly because it allows for the drones to fly outside of their operators’ visual line of sight and during the day or night—exceptions to FAA’s usual drone regulations. It also enables the company to pilot many aircraf ..
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