Will UPS Contribute To Drone Traffic?

As hobby and public safety unmanned aircraft systems continue to fill the sky, commercial operators like Amazon and UPS are considering their application as well.

With unmanned aircraft traffic in the National Airspace already increasing, UPS has become the latest company to consider the commercial use of drones. The company announced earlier this month it is following in Amazon’s footsteps and has begun testing drones to make package deliveries to remote or difficult-to-access locations.

Working with drone-maker CyPhy Works, UPS staged a mock medicine delivery from Beverly, Mass., to Children’s Island, about three miles off the Atlantic coast.

“Our focus is on real-world applications that benefit our customers,” said Mark Wallace, UPS senior vice president of global engineering and sustainability. “We think drones offer a great solution to deliver to hard-to-reach locations in urgent situations where other modes of transportation are not readily available.”

Last month, the Federal Aviation Administration issued new rules that expanded the uses of drones in multiple applications. Operators must adhere to important safety regulations, and UPS believes the new rules are just what are needed to eventually get its own unmanned aircraft in the sky.