Amazon reiterates push for drone delivery

Previously on this blog, we have spoken about the possibility of drone delivery services. This was kicked off by a 60 Minutes interview with Amazon CEO Jeff  Bezos, where he unveiled the company's plans to use the autonomous flying machines to make deliveries in locations close to the metropolitan processing plants. Over the last few months, different organizations have announced drone services, but none of them have materialized into anything at this point.

Recently, Wired Magazine got a hold of the latest annual letter to shareholders from Bezos.  The executive hit on every aspect of the business and reiterated that the company is working on a drone delivery service and is making great strides to get "Prime Air" system off the ground. The letter mentions that the flight team is currently testing generation five and six and is in the design phase of generations seven and eight.

"Others are working on drone delivery, and in the distant future, this kind of thing may be commonplace, assuming cultural norms evolve along with the technology," the article reads. "In the near term, it's hard to see how swarms of small octocopters traveling from warehouses to people's backyards will actually improve the efficiency of Amazon's retail operation."

Being high on drone delivery makes sense, especially considering the ruling from last month that opened the door for drones for "commercial purposes." Previously, any company that was planning on using unmanned aircraft was met with a cease-and-desist letter from the FAA informing them that they did not have authorization to do so and threatening a fine of $10,000.

According to a separate Wired article, Matt Gunn, an independent drone pilot from Cleveland, was one of those operators to receive one of these warning from the FAA. The founder of Gunn Photography, one of the services his company offers is agricultural mapping and real-estate filming. This is something that the company offers despite the letter from FAA.

Gunn, believing there was no validity to the accusations, decided to challenge the ruling and an administrative law judge of the National Transportation Safety Board ruled against the FAA, stating that the organization does not have the authority to regulate small unmanned drones.

While this does open the door for drone delivery to become a mainstream option, it is not something that is going to happen overnight. Having a solid logistics and shipping approach is still going to be needed in order to effectively implement a drone delivery service.