Why drone delivery still has a long way to go before take off - Retail Dive
High-profile drone delivery demonstrations continue, but frequent market use is years away, and hurdles must be overcome.
One of the clearest hurdles to the evolution of drone delivery in the U.S. is the slow and complex process of developing regulatory rules. The Federal Aviation Administration admitted after coming up with initial drone regulations last year that settling on delivery-specific rules will take at least a few years.
That reality probably puts the U.S. drone delivery market behind the market evolution in other countries, but many in the drone delivery sector are not critical of the long timetable.
“The FAA’s timetable is not a gating factor,” Jerome Ferguson, director of autonomous systems at UPS, told Retail Dive. “The FAA is really doing what it is supposed to do in doing everything is can to ensure a safe airspace.” UPS has a representative serving on the FAA’s drone regulation advisory committee, Ferguson said, so it at least has a seat at the table as rules get sorted out.
High-profile drone delivery demonstrations continue, but frequent market use is years away, and hurdles must be overcome.
One of the clearest hurdles to the evolution of drone delivery in the U.S. is the slow and complex process of developing regulatory rules. The Federal Aviation Administration admitted after coming up with initial drone regulations last year that settling on delivery-specific rules will take at least a few years.
That reality probably puts the U.S. drone delivery market behind the market evolution in other countries, but many in the drone delivery sector are not critical of the long timetable.
“The FAA’s timetable is not a gating factor,” Jerome Ferguson, director of autonomous systems at UPS, told Retail Dive. “The FAA is really doing what it is supposed to do in doing everything is can to ensure a safe airspace.” UPS has a representative serving on the FAA’s drone regulation advisory committee, Ferguson said, so it at least has a seat at the table as rules get sorted out.
