Axios's Joann Muller is reporting that 2024 is looking like a breakout year for drone delivery.
The article discusses the significant advancements in delivery drone technology and its expected mainstream adoption in 2024. After overcoming many regulatory hurdles, drone delivery will become more common in suburban areas, offering swift delivery of meals, prescriptions, and household items. This shift towards electric drones aims to reduce road traffic and emissions. Until recently, commercial drones were restricted to short distances due to the need for visual spotters, but recent FAA authorization for "beyond the visual line of sight" flights has enabled companies like Zipline, Wing, and Amazon to expand their drone delivery services. Amazon plans to achieve 500 million drone deliveries annually by the end of the decade and is introducing a smaller, quieter drone. Zipline, known for delivering medical supplies in Africa, is expanding its U.S. operations with new delivery drones, and Wing, an Alphabet subsidiary, has already completed over 350,000 deliveries. Other companies are also scaling up their operations. The FAA is working on standardizing rules for these operations, with the hope that drone delivery will become routine and economically viable. However, the novelty of drone deliveries is expected to quickly become a normal expectation for consumers.
Source: Axios
https://www.axios.com/2024/01/02/delivery-drones-2024-amazon-zipline-wing
(This article was written with assitance from ChatGPT)
