SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JUNE 17: A pedestrian walks by a United Parcel Service (UPS) truck on June 17, 2014 in San Francisco, California. UPS announced plans to begin to consider box size in the pricing of ground shipments in the U.S. and standard delivery to Canada. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
UPS has beat out rivals Alphabet Inc. and Amazon to be the first company approved by the U.S. government to operate a drone airline. As Reuters explains, this multi-drone certificate allows the company to expand delivery services in campus environments, such as universities, corporate settings, and hospitals. However, residential deliveries will be years away.
Elaine Chao, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, discusses this new approval by saying, “This is a big step forward in safely integrating unmanned aircraft systems into our airspace.”
Reuters also adds, “The FAA is writing rules for drone operations, including guidelines for sharing airspace with passenger planes and flying over populated areas.”