FAA Certifies Google's Wing Drone Delivery Company To Operate As An Airline

Enlarge this image toggle caption Wing Wing

The Federal Aviation Administration has certified Alphabet's Wing Aviation to operate as an airline, in a first for U.S. drone delivery companies. Wing, which began as a Google X project, has been testing its autonomous drones in southwest Virginia and elsewhere.

"Air Carrier Certification means that we can begin a commercial service delivering goods from local businesses to homes in the United States," Wing said in a statement posted to the Medium website.

The company has touted many advantages of using unmanned drones to deliver packages, from reducing carbon emissions and road congestion to increasing connections between communities and local businesses.

"This is an important step forward for the safe testing and integration of drones into our economy. Safety continues to be our Number One priority as this technology continues to develop and realize its full potential," Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao said in a statement from the agency.

Enlarge this image toggle caption Wing Wing

In a statement to NPR, the FAA says Wing was able to qualify for an air carrier certificate because it has shown "its operations met the FAA's rigorous safety requirements."

Wing's electric drones are powered by 14 propellers, nearly all of which are top-mounted to help carry loads of up to 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds). They're meant to deliver a wide range of everyday items, from food and drinks to medicine and emergency supplies.

By developing delivery drones — and a retail system that would connect customers with local merchants — Google's parent company is directly competing with Amazon, which has been readying its own unmanned delivery system, called Prime Air.

As early as 2013, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos predicted that the online retail giant's "octocopter" drones would start buzzing out of fulfillment centers in the coming years. At the time, Bezos said his company's drones would be built to carry around 5 pounds — a weight limit that would allow about 85 percent of the products sold by Amazon to be delivered by drone.

But Bezos also said it would take time to develop a safe and reliable drone system — and to get federal approvals. It wasn't until late 2016 that Amazon announced its first fully autonomous Prime Air delivery. Since then, like Google, it's been testing its delivery drones.

The use of unmanned aircraft in the U.S. has been growing by leaps and bounds. At the end of 2018, The Associated Press reported that "110,000 commercial drones are operating in U.S. airspace," citing government figures that also projected the number would more than quadruple in 2022.

Wing has been testing its drone delivery systems from an FAA-approved test area at Virginia Tech since the autumn of 2016. With its new air carrier certification in hand, the company says it hopes to expand deliveries in southwest Virginia, recruiting businesses and potential customers in the Blacksburg and Christiansburg areas who want to try out the delivery system.

That expansion is planned for later this year. In the meantime, Wing "will begin its first trial in Europe in the spring, delivering to homes in Helsinki, Finland," a company representative said in an email to NPR.

Some of the earliest Wing drone tests took place in Canberra, Australia, in 2014. Since then, the company says, its drones have flown more than 70,000 test flights and delivered thousands of packages there.

Earlier this month, Wing officially launched its commercial delivery service in northern Canberra after gaining regulatory approval. Its initial partners in that venture range from local coffee, bakery and gelato shops to chocolate makers and a taqueria.

In addition to Google and Amazon, delivery companies such as United Parcel Service and DHL Express also have been developing their own drone systems. And like many human endeavors that rely on technology, a main hurdle has been a relatively simple constraint: battery life.

"If you have to recharge them every other hour, then you need so many drones, and you have to orchestrate that. So good luck with that," Frank Appel, the CEO of DHL parent Deutsche Post AG, told the AP last December.</s>The Federal Aviation Administration has given the green light to a drone delivery company to start delivering packages.

Wing Aviation LLC is the first drone delivery company to be certified as an "air carrier" by the FAA. The company is owned by Alphabet Inc, and began as a Google X project.

The company announced their FAA approval in a blog post on Medium. The certification means that the company will now be able to deliver goods from local business directly to homes in the U.S.

"Goods like medicine or food can now be delivered faster by drone, giving families, shift workers, and other busy consumers more time to do the things that matter," the company said. "Air delivery also provides greater autonomy to those who need assistance with mobility. Also, our all-electric drones will reduce traffic on our roads and pollution and carbon emissions in our skies."

Wing said that more than 70,000 test flights and more than 3,000 deliveries were made before recieving FAA approval. The company submitted data to the FAA showing that a drone delivery was safer than making the same trip by car to buy an item.

Deliveries by Wing will begin in the Southwest Virginia area. The company has reached out to Blackburg and Christiansburg, VA to being demonstrations of the drone deliveries. A delivery trial is expected to launch later this year.

Major companies like Uber and UPS are also trying to secure similar federal approvals for commercial drone deliveries.</s>One of Google's sister companies has received government approval to launch a drone delivery service in the US.

On Tuesday, Wing Aviation, a subsidiary of Alphabet, became the first drone delivery company to receive air carrier certification from the Federal Aviation Administration. "Air Carrier Certification means that we can begin a commercial service delivering goods from local businesses to homes in the United States," the company said in a blog post.

The plan is to first launch a commercial drone delivery service in Virginia, where Wing has already been testing out the company's unmanned aircraft to bring Chipotle burritos. So far, the company hasn't said what specific products consumers will be able to buy over the service, but the goal is to bring items such as food and medicine.

"Air delivery also provides greater autonomy to those who need assistance with mobility," the company said in its blog post. "Also, our all-electric drones will reduce traffic on our roads and pollution and carbon emissions in our skies."

Expect Wing's delivery service to launch later this year in Virginia for the Blacksburg and Christiansburg areas. But before it does, the company first plans on reaching out to local businesses and residents to answer questions and gain feedback on the upcoming project.

Wing's delivery drones have so far been bringing foods and packages to test users free of charge. For consumers, the ordering process occurs over an app. During the pick-up process, the drone will hover at a height of about seven meters, and lower the package to you with a special line. Currently, the unmanned machines can carry packages that weigh up to 3.3 pounds.

The FAA decided to award Wing with the air carrier certificate after the company demonstrated that its technology was safe through trials both done in the US and in countries such as Australia.

"This is an important step forward for the safe testing and integration of drones into our economy," said US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao in a statement. "Safety continues to be our Number One priority as this technology continues to develop and realize its full potential."

Earlier this month, Australia's aviation authorities also granted Wing approval to run a public drone delivery service in North Canberra. Through the service, local residents can buy fresh food, hot coffee and pharmacy items.</s>An offshoot of Alphabet Inc.’s Google has become the first drone operator to receive government approval as an airline, an important step that gives it the legal authority to begin dropping products to actual customers.

The subsidiary, Wing, now has the same certifications that smaller airlines receive from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Transportation. It plans to begin routine deliveries of small consumer items in two rural communities in Virginia within months, the company said.

“It’s an exciting moment for us to have earned the FAA’s approval to actually run a business with our technology,” Wing Chief Executive Officer James Ryan Burgess said in an interview. He called it “pivotal” both for his company and the drone industry in general.

Drone regulations still don’t permit most flights over crowds and urban areas, limiting where Wing can operate. But the approvals signed by the FAA on Friday and Monday give the company the ability to charge for deliveries of clients’ goods in Virginia and apply for permission to expand to other regions.

While scores of companies working in test programs have gotten FAA waivers to perform demonstration flights or to make deliveries over short distances, there has never been a drone company approved under the regulations designed to ensure safety at traditional charter airlines or smaller air-cargo haulers.

It required Wing to create extensive manuals, training routines and a safety hierarchy — just as any air carrier must do.

Companies receiving permission must also be majority owned by U.S. citizens under long-standing restrictions imposed by the DOT.

Some drone companies have complained that the process was too onerous. Many of the requirements that made sense for a charter airline — like flight attendants and seat belts for the crew — didn’t apply to them.

Burgess said that the process of applying to the FAA took months and was “very rigorous and very thorough.”

Other drone companies applying for FAA approvals should be able to move more quickly now that the agency and Wing have worked through the issues of what rules should apply to drone operators and which ones should not, Burgess said.

The FAA’s air-carrier certification was needed because existing rules created strictly for drones don’t allow the kind of flights Wing envisioned, he said.

According to regulations issued in 2016, for example, drone operators are allowed to fly for hire, but have to do so within strict rules prohibiting flights outside of a ground operator’s eyesight. Similarly, the FAA has allowed automated flights over longer distances, but they are only demonstrations and companies can’t accept payment.

In order for Wing to operate over longer ranges and actually charge for the service, it needed to become a full-fledged air carrier. The FAA confirmed the air-carrier certification was signed, but didn’t offer additional comment.

Wing plans to begin deliveries in the Blacksburg and Christiansburg areas of Virginia. The company has been conducting research at nearby Virginia Tech’s Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership.

Unlike Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Air, another would-be drone delivery company, Wing will sell items from local merchants. Now that it has gotten FAA approvals, it will begin finding business partners in the two towns, Burgess said.

Wing’s drone, a hybrid between a helicopter and plane, is able to lift off vertically and fly horizontally at high speeds. It carries packages in its belly, lowering them to people’s yards with a tether while it hovers a safe distance overhead.

The company also recently won approval for drone deliveries from regulators in Australia, where it has conducted extensive testing.

Because the idea of drones flying over people’s homes is so new, the company also plans to conduct extensive outreach to local government leaders and the public, Burgess added. Actual deliveries are expected to start within several months.

The FAA’s approval demonstrates the rapid maturation of drone technology, he said.

“It shows these devices can be value added in our communities,” Burgess said. “They can be a faster, cleaner, less expensive way to transport things while still adding to the safety of society.”</s>Google's Wing Aviation gets FAA OK for drone deliveries

WASHINGTON (AP) — Google affiliate Wing Aviation has received federal approval allowing it to make commercial deliveries by drone.

It's the first time a company has gotten a federal air carrier certification for drone deliveries.

The approval from the Federal Aviation Administration means that Wing can operate commercial drone flights in part of Virginia, which it plans to begin later this year.

The FAA said Tuesday that the company met the agency's safety requirements by participating in a pilot program in Virginia and conducting thousands of flights in Australia over the past several years.

Wing says the approval means that it can begin a commercial service delivering goods from local businesses to homes in the United States.</s>The US Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Transportation gave Wing, a drone startup under Google parent company Alphabet, the same certifications as small airlines, Wing confirmed Tuesday. The clearance makes Wing the first drone company to get the same government approval as an airline.

"Air Carrier Certification means that we can begin a commercial service delivering goods from local businesses to homes in the United States," Wing said in a Medium blog post. Bloomberg earlier reported Wing's approval.

Wing said its next step is to expand its participation in the government's Unmanned Aircraft System Integration Pilot Program in southwest Virginia. The company said it'll reach out to business and community members in the Blacksburg and Christiansburg areas with the goal of launching a delivery trial later this year.

Wing has been working with the FAA since September 2018. It became the first drone delivery service in Australia after 18 months of testing. The company is also planning to launch in Europe later this spring.</s>Alphabet-owned Wing has become the first drone delivery company to receive air carrier certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration. The certification effectively gives Wing the green light to begin commercial deliveries in the US.

Wing plans to begin a commercial delivery pilot program in Virginia later this year, the company explained in a Medium blog post, as part of the FAA's Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integrated Pilot Program (UAS IPP). Over the coming weeks, Wing will begin reaching out to the communities and businesses in the Blacksburg and Christiansburg areas of Virginia, where it plans to make deliveries from businesses to homes.

Wing worked extensively with the FAA over several years to gain this approval, the company said in an email to ZDNet. Receiving Air Carrier Certification allows Wing to get around some of the regulations imposed by the FAA's formal rules for commercial drone use. The certification will, for instance, allow Wing to bypass the requirement that drone operators keep their unmanned aircraft systems within their line of sight.

To win FAA air carrier certification, the company submitted evidence demonstrating the safety of its systems, including data showing that a delivery by Wing carries a lower risk to pedestrians than the same trip made by car.

In a statement in the Medium blog post, US Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao said, "This is an important step forward for the safe testing and integration of drones into our economy. Safety continues to be our Number One priority as this technology continues to develop and realize its full potential."

Wing was initially part of Google's X division, which focuses on "moonshot"-style projects. In July 2018, Wing began operating as an independent company under the Alphabet Other Bets group, which also includes the balloon-based internet project Loon, self-driving car specialist Waymo, health company Verily and cybersecurity outfit Chronicle.

Wing already has a commercial air delivery service in the north of Canberra, Australia, and it plans to bring its first operations to Europe this spring.

The FAA's stringent rules have slowed commercial drone activity in the US, though Wing partnered with Chipotle to trial burrito deliveries here in 2016. Meanwhile, some innovative UAS use cases have popped up that work around existing regulations. For instance, the Drone logistics company Flytrex recently announced a partnership with drone company EASE Drones to bring an on-green sandwich and beverage service to a golf course in North Dakot</s>Alphabet Wing, the drone delivery startup owned by Google’s parent company, announced that it has become the first company to receive Air Carrier Certification from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This lets Wing begin commercial deliveries from local businesses to homes in the U.S. — including the crucial ability to fly over civilians and beyond the visible line of sight of drone operators.

Operations will start “over the coming weeks” in the Blacksburg and Christiansburg areas of Virginia, where Wing will run a commercial delivery pilot as part of the Integrated Pilot Program (IPP) later in 2019. This means that the U.S. will officially join Canberra, Australia, where Wing already operates a commercial air delivery service. It is also poised to start trials in Europe, delivering to homes in Helsinki, Finland.

“This is a significant first step in a process that will ultimately allow Wing to build a business that uses delivery drones to transport important items to be people when they need them the most, more quickly, safely and conveniently, and with a low carbon footprint,” a spokesperson for Wing told Digital Trends. “The thousands of deliveries we’ve done to the hundreds of testers we’ve been delivering around the world have proven the value of our technology — whether it be delivering pharmacy items to the elderly, or a meal to parents whose children are sick, or a hot coffee to shift workers and others on tight schedules.”

Wing has been working for six years toward its mission of building small, lightweight aircraft, along with a navigation system able to safely deliver small packages on demand. To date, the company’s drones have flown more than 70,000 test flights and made more than 3,000 deliveries to doorsteps, driveways, and backyards of customers in Australia, where the service is currently operational.

Wing’s spokesperson told us that the company has been working with the FAA since April 2017 to establish a safety case, and demonstrate that its aircraft, personnel, operations, and procedures meet the necessary safety standards. Over the coming months, the next step will involve engaging with businesses and community members in Blacksburg and Christiansburg to answer questions, solicit feedback, and showcase the technology.

Hopefully, it won’t be too long after that before similar drone deliveries roll out across the United States.</s>The approval from the Federal Aviation Administration means that Wing can operate commercial drone flights in part of Virginia, which it plans to begin later this year.

In this Tuesday, Aug, 7, 2018, photo a Wing Hummingbird drone carries a package of ice cream and popsicles as it leaves its launch site during a delivery flight demonstration in Blacksburg, Va. Wing, a subsidiary of Google’s parent corporation Alphabet, hasn’t been allowed to fly long distances, over people and beyond the pilot’s line of sight. That changed when Virginia was selected as one of 10 areas to participate in an experimental program that would lower barriers on the technology. (Michael Shroyer via AP)

The approval from the Federal Aviation Administration means that Wing can operate commercial drone flights in part of Virginia, which it plans to begin later this year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Google affiliate Wing Aviation has received federal approval allowing it to make commercial deliveries by drone.

It’s the first time a company has gotten a federal air carrier certification for drone deliveries.

The approval from the Federal Aviation Administration means that Wing can operate commercial drone flights in part of Virginia, which it plans to begin later this year.

The FAA said Tuesday that the company met the agency’s safety requirements by participating in a pilot program in Virginia with the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership and Virginia Tech, and by conducting thousands of flights in Australia over the past several years.

“This is an important step forward for the safe testing and integration of drones into our economy,” Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said in a statement.

Wing said the approval “means that we can begin a commercial service delivering goods from local businesses to homes in the United States.”

The company didn’t name any businesses that would take part in commercial deliveries. It said it plans to spend the next several months demonstrating its technology and answering questions from people and businesses in Blacksburg and Christiansburg, Virginia.

Wing said it will “solicit feedback with the goal of launching a delivery trial later this year.”

Wing said that to win FAA certification it had to show that one of its drone deliveries would pose less risk to pedestrians than the same trip made in a car. The company said its drones have flown more than 70,000 test flights and made more than 3,000 deliveries to customers in Australia.

The company is touting many benefits from deliveries by electric drones. It says medicine and food can be delivered faster, that drones will be especially helpful to consumers who need help getting around, and that they can reduce traffic and emissions.

Drone usage in the U.S. has grown rapidly in some industries such as utilities, pipelines and agriculture. But drones have faced more obstacles in delivering retail packages and food because of federal regulations that bar most flights over crowds of people and beyond sight of the operator without a waiver from the FAA.

The federal government recently estimated that about 110,000 commercial drones were operating in the U.S., and that number is expected to zoom to about 450,000 in 2022.

Amazon is working on drone delivery, a topic keen to CEO Jeff Bezos. Delivery companies including UPS and DHL have also conducted tests.

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>Google's Wing Aviation gets FAA OK for drone deliveries

WASHINGTON (AP) — Google affiliate Wing Aviation has received federal approval allowing it to make commercial deliveries by drone.

It's the first time a company has gotten a federal air carrier certification for drone deliveries.

The approval from the Federal Aviation Administration means that Wing can operate commercial drone flights in part of Virginia, which it plans to begin later this year.

The FAA said Tuesday that the company met the agency's safety requirements by participating in a pilot program in Virginia with the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership and Virginia Tech, and by conducting thousands of flights in Australia over the past several years.

"This is an important step forward for the safe testing and integration of drones into our economy," Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said in a statement.

Wing said the approval "means that we can begin a commercial service delivering goods from local businesses to homes in the United States."

The company didn't name any businesses that would take part in commercial deliveries. It said it plans to spend the next several months demonstrating its technology and answering questions from people and businesses in Blacksburg and Christiansburg, Virginia.

Wing said it will "solicit feedback with the goal of launching a delivery trial later this year."

Wing said that to win FAA certification it had to show that one of its drone deliveries would pose less risk to pedestrians than the same trip made in a car. The company said its drones have flown more than 70,000 test flights and made more than 3,000 deliveries to customers in Australia.

The company is touting many benefits from deliveries by electric drones. It says medicine and food can be delivered faster, that drones will be especially helpful to consumers who need help getting around, and that they can reduce traffic and emissions.

Drone usage in the U.S. has grown rapidly in some industries such as utilities, pipelines and agriculture. But drones have faced more obstacles in delivering retail packages and food because of federal regulations that bar most flights over crowds of people and beyond sight of the operator without a waiver from the FAA.

The federal government recently estimated that about 110,000 commercial drones were operating in the U.S., and that number is expected to zoom to about 450,000 in 2022.

Amazon is working on drone delivery, a topic keen to CEO Jeff Bezos. Delivery companies including UPS and DHL have also conducted tests.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certifies Alphabet Inc.-owned delivery drone service Wing to operate as an airline in the United States. Wing is the first delivery drone company to receive FAA air carrier certification.