Digging Deep Into Drone Deliveries… Is This Fly By Night Technology Or Our New Normal
Coming Soon, Drone Deliveries Landing right to your doorstep!
On January 4, 2021, Luis Alvarez, CEO of Alvarez Technology Group engaged in a lively conversation with the Tech Talk Host about a recent ABC news story about the future of drone deliveries. The news story reported that according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), drones, currently represent the fastest-growing unit in the transportation sector.
Luis explained that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced and outlined some new rules regarding drones and their operators. “Until this new rule was announced last week, it was not allowed for drones, specifically drones that were being tested for delivery were allowed to fly over people, crowds, or during the night,” Luis explained. He continued to say that this rule was set in place for safety and security precautions. “They didn’t want anyone to get hurt if the drones would happen to fall out of the sky onto someone or someone’s house, car, or property,” he said.
Luis continued to share that enough testing has now been completed that the FAA is now comfortable and confident that these delivery drones are safe and, “not going to fall out of the sky.” The new FAA rules now allow drones with deliveries to fly above crowds and during the night. “This just takes us one step closer to being able to see a day of drone deliveries,” Luis said. He continued to share that companies like Amazon, UPS, and even the United States Postal Service have been testing drones as a way to deliver small packages from local offices without the expense of dispatching a truck and driver. “Now they can test these things in real-world scenarios taking us one step forward in this drone delivery future,” he said.
The two continued to discuss other FAA restrictions including how high in the sky drones can fly and how close they can fly near an airport as not to interfere with airplanes. Luis explained that there are many restrictions in place to keep everyone safe. Some smaller private airplanes and helicopters fly low enough that drones could interfere and cause issues. “The FAA has established rules so there won’t be any issues,” he said. Plus, if you live approximately a mile from a general aviation airport Luis said that you shouldn’t expect drone deliveries to come your way. The FAA considers that to be too close, but if you live outside that range you will probably will. “Expect drones to deliver prescriptions and smaller packages in the next few years,” Luis said.
