Amazon said Monday it remains committed to developing unmanned aerial devices to deliver products to customers, even as proposed federal regulations seemed to rule out the possibility of a drone delivery service.
The proposed rules governing small drones, released by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Sunday, would require that operators pilot the vehicles with “unaided vision” and would prohibit them from flying over people. Both seem to conflict with Prime Air, Amazon’s vision of flying automated drones to the homes of customers.
But Amazon said it would continue to work on drone deliveries while the FAA proposals were under consideration. “The FAA needs to begin and expeditiously complete the formal process to address the needs of our business, and ultimately our customers,” said Amazon executive for public policy Paul Misener. “We are committed to realizing our vision.”
A press release from the FAA announcing the regulations stressed that the agency “tried to be flexible in writing these rules.” The agency said it still seeking comment on the proposals, which are expected to take up to two years to become law, particularly the potential requirement that operators be able to see the craft they are operating.
“We want to maintain today’s outstanding level of aviation safety without placing an undue regulatory burden on an emerging industry,” said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta.
Amazon suggested that it would fight a regulation that effectively banned the service.”[We] are committed to realizing our vision for Prime Air and are prepared to deploy where we have the regulatory support we need,” said Misener.
- Inside the Massive Effort to Change the Way Kids Are Taught to Read
- Dubai's Real Estate Market is Booming. One Company is Making It Possible to Invest From Anywhere in the World
- How to Exercise When It's Really Hot Outside
- A New Documentary Sheds Light on a Pivotal Movement in Asian American History
- Far From Home: Afghan Women are Attempting to Build New Lives Abroad
- What Experts Say About How Valuable The Inflation Reduction Act's Green Subsidies Will Be
- What to Know About Long COVID in Kids
- Want to Do More Good? This Movement Might Have the Answer