We have all heard of the predictions for personal delivery to your home via drones. Many people are anxiously waiting the day when they can receive a package or a pizza at their front door via drone. Amazon, Wal-Mart and Google have all announced plans to use drones for home delivery.
Before you receive a package on your doorstep via drone, major obstacles will have to be overcome. In 2012, Congress directed the FAA to develop a plan "for the safe integration of civil unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system as soon as practicable, but not later than September 30, 2015."
Despite that mandate, the FAA recently announced that it was unable to meet that deadline. In response, several industry organizations signed a letter to the Administrator of the FAA urging the FAA to move forward expeditiously with developing rules for the integration of UAS into the National Airspace System.
One obstacle is that in order to effectuate home delivery, as well as the widespread operation of drones for commercial purposes, it will be necessary for the drones to operate beyond line of sight ("BLOS"). Subject to very limited exceptions, current regulations prohibit BLOS operation of drones.
Another question looms — whether consumers will actually use the delivery system. Amazon has already rolled out its Prime Now service in several cities across the country. While the selection is more limited than what is available on Amazon's traditional site, Prime Now promises delivery to Amazon Prime customers within two hours for no extra cost, and within one hour for an additional fee.
Finally, privacy concerns may impact the implementation of a drone delivery system. Whether those privacy concerns are overblown, the fact remains that until the use of drones becomes more widespread, people will continue to have those concerns.
As the FAA continues to grapple with balancing the interests of the drone industry with its mandate to ensure a high level of airspace safety, the issue of how, and the extent to which, drones will be used will continue to be at the forefront of the discussion and analysis.
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