FAA Approval Empowers Wing to Expand BVLOS Operations Across Dallas, Major US Cities, Furthering Momentum in the Drone Delivery Landscape
As the year draws to a close, drone delivery service Wing has announced a significant development. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted Wing an exemption that allows it to operate Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) without visual observers. This approval is a game-changer, making commercial residential drone delivery more commercially viable.
The FAA’s approval came in the form of a summary grant, a tool used by the FAA to expedite the approval process for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The summary grant process is used when the FAA has already granted a previous exemption similar to the new request. This means that the FAA does not need to repeat the analysis performed for the original exemption, making the process more efficient.
This approval allows Wing’s drones to use Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast-based (ADS-B) Detect and Avoid (DAA) within a significant area of Dallas airspace.
Wing’s holistic approach to BVLOS flight, which has been employed for commercial deliveries on three continents for several years, is based on avoiding potential conflict before flights take off and uses in-flight DAA to add an additional layer of safety.
The FAA’s approval for DAA and recognition of broader strategic deconfliction and UTM applications will enable Wing to operate more efficiently and work towards scaled operations nationwide. “While Wing has already been serving customers at a 6 mile radius from nests in Frisco, this summary grant enables us to move toward BVLOS operations without visual observers across Dallas and similar airspace surrounding other major US cities, adding to the momentum of the drone delivery industry at large,” writes Margaret Nagle, Head of Global Policy and Government Affairs at Wing.
“Overall, the FAA’s approval for DAA and recognition of broader strategic deconfliction and UTM applications will allow us to operate more efficiently and work toward scaled operations nationwide. Starting with communities across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, this action supports our path toward expanding our service across the US. Wing’s fast-mile drone delivery at scale could save the Dallas-Fort Worth community several millions of hours each year which would have otherwise been spent driving to the store or delivering packages on the road.”
Read more:
- Google’s Wing Makes Key Hires as they Expand Drone Delivery
- Walmart Parters with Wing on Drone Delivery in Dallas Fort Worth
- Google Wing, Apian Partner to Create Medical Drone Delivery Service in Ireland, UK
- BVLOS Drone Delivery, No Visual Observers: Flytrex and Causey Aviation Unmanned Get FAA Approval
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
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[…] 2024 has officially arrived. It’s coming on the heels of one of the biggest years for drones. Not only did drones feature prominently on both sides in the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel, but at home, drone deliveries to homes moved a little more out of the realm of possibility and into probability with FAA waivers for piloting drones beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) being issued to companies like Wing. […]