Daniel Silva remembers being an intern at Amazon in the summer of 2014, months after founder Jeff Bezos unveiled the company's plans for drone delivery service via Amazon Prime Air.
"At the time, it seemed like we were going to start seeing drones delivering packages within a year," said Silva, now an industrial and systems engineering professor at Auburn University.
Yet progress has been slow, even for a company of Amazon's stature. In 2016, Prime Air made its first successful drone delivery, which took place in the U.K. Last year, it received Federal Aviation Administration clearance for drone delivery on a rural test range. Parcel-carrying drones haven't filled the skies just yet.
"We are actively flying and testing and it will take time and more hard work before our operations are ready to scale," Amazon says on its website regarding Prime Air. "We're excited about this technology and one day using it to deliver packages to customers around the world in 30 minutes or less."
Continue reading: https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/drone-delivery-faa-flytrex-matternet-amazon-last-mile/606662/
"At the time, it seemed like we were going to start seeing drones delivering packages within a year," said Silva, now an industrial and systems engineering professor at Auburn University.
Yet progress has been slow, even for a company of Amazon's stature. In 2016, Prime Air made its first successful drone delivery, which took place in the U.K. Last year, it received Federal Aviation Administration clearance for drone delivery on a rural test range. Parcel-carrying drones haven't filled the skies just yet.
"We are actively flying and testing and it will take time and more hard work before our operations are ready to scale," Amazon says on its website regarding Prime Air. "We're excited about this technology and one day using it to deliver packages to customers around the world in 30 minutes or less."
Continue reading: https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/drone-delivery-faa-flytrex-matternet-amazon-last-mile/606662/
