The drone delivery industry, just like the unmanned aircraft that power it, is currently flying well below the stratosphere.
Among the drone firms that have made their 2022 delivery figures public, none eclipsed more than a few thousand deliveries, mainly owing to the Federal Aviation Administration’s stringent regulations around the young industry.
Those rules, designed to ensure the safety and privacy of the public, have limited commercial drone delivery operations to a handful of companies with FAA approval. But this week that select group got a little larger.
On Monday, Israel-based drone delivery provider Flytrex announced the FAA granted the firm a Standard Part 135 Air Carrier Certification, which according to the agency is “the only path for small drones to carry the property of another for compensation beyond visual line of sight.”
In other words, the certification allows companies to launch and operate long-range commercial drone delivery services without a limit on size or scope. Flytrex joins Alphabet’s Wing, UPS Flight Forward, Amazon Prime Air and Zipline as the only firms with such an approval.
“Operating a drone delivery service under Part 135 provides several key benefits compared to Part 107, which is what Flytrex has been operating under up until now,” Flytrex CEO and cofounder Yariv Bash told FreightWaves. “Part 135 allows for greater operational flexibility, including the ability to fly over people and beyond the pilot’s visual line of sight (BVLOS) — a limitation that can’t be waived under Part 107.”
There are still some restrictions on what Standard Part 135 Air Carriers can do — for example, they must receive authorization for each type of operation they want to conduct. But the certification is considered the most lenient regulatory framework available for drone delivery operators today.
“Part 135 is an amazing accomplishment and a must to any drone delivery company looking to deliver at scale,” Bash added. “However, the burden of making drone deliveries a profitable business is still at the hands of Flytrex, and this is going to be our focus in the months to come.”
The primary alternative to Part 135 Certification, which Flytrex and others have utilized since around 2019, is operating under an FAA exemption or through an initiative like the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program (UAS IPP), a yearslong program aimed at introducing drones to U.S. airspace and evaluating their benefits and drawbacks.
But those methods are temporary. In order for an operator to get off the ground and stay airborne, a Standard Part 135 Air Carrier Certification is the best option.
“We live in an era of instant gratification, where consumers want to get their food or goods faster, more reliably, more economically and more sustainably — and drone delivery has risen to the occasion,” Bash said in the announcement of the certification. “Flytrex’s continued success delivering to customers throughout North Carolina and Texas has put us ahead of the curve.”
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Since 2019, Flytrex has operated its North Carolina services under the IPP and the subsequent BEYOND program, a follow-up initiative aimed at addressing concerns with BVLOS flights.
Today, the firm’s network includes five delivery areas — four in North Carolina and one in Granbury, Texas, added in March as part of an expansion — reaching tens of thousands of households by using a tether to lower orders directly into their yards.
But now, Flytrex is aiming much, much higher. Alongside aircraft management partner Causey Aviation Unmanned, the company said it will expand its services nationwide to, by its estimate, 82 million eligible front and back yards.
“In 2023, we plan to expand service areas and establish new stations and partnerships as part of our effort to increase operations and promote drones as a mainstream delivery method,” Bash told FreightWaves. “We will also continue to nurture our strategic partnerships with regulators like the FAA to continue tackling remaining obstacles of UAS integration into US airspace.”
Among the handful of Standard Part 135 Air Carriers, Flytrex stands out. It’s not a subsidiary of a larger company and doesn’t have the massive coffers of Wing, Flight Forward or Prime Air, nor does it have the volume of Zipline, which has completed over 450,000 commercial deliveries since 2016.
Flytrex did launch one of the world’s first fully autonomous drone delivery systems in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 2017. But among its new peers, the Israel-based provider is probably the least established name, further amplifying the significance of the milestone.
Thus far, smaller drone firms have experienced minimal success obtaining Part 135 approvals. Some have gone a different route, opting to certify their drones instead of operations.
Take Matternet, which in 2022 saw its M2 drone certified as an aircraft and approved for U.S. production by the FAA. Flytrex is currently going through a similar process with its FTX-M600P model.
Drone delivery providers will need to certify both their aircraft and operations in order to avoid regulatory logjams. But Flytrex’s approval this week serves as evidence that smaller operators have a path forward in the growing space — even if it’s an arduous one.
Click for more FreightWaves articles by Jack Daleo.
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