A widely publicized plan by e-commerce giant Amazon to develop a fleet of package-delivering drones may sound far-fetched, but the Seattle company is perfectly serious about it. In fact, Amazon is goading the Federal Aviation Administration to get its cumbersome rules out of the way and let the company begin testing its drone delivery plans.
In a letter to the FAA this past week, Amazon threatened to move its drone research teams abroad unless the agency quickly relaxes its rules on commercial drones. Current regulations ban using drones for commercial purposes, even for test runs. Federal overseers plan to start issuing a few licenses by next year, but the vetting process will be stringent, and only a few flights will be permitted.
The Seattle company's already testing drones in Britain, where commercial drones must stay clear of crowded areas and airports, but otherwise can fly freely.
An Amazon vice president told FAA officials that "one day, seeing Amazon PRime Air will be as normal as seeing mail trucks on the road today."
The company has set aside a testing range near Seattle that is far removed from airports, crowds and traffic.
