Subsidiary
named UPS Flight Forward Inc.
The
new company will focus on developing and operating unmanned aerial systems for revenue-generating
deliveries.
UPS
Flight Forward is positioned to be the one of the first fully-certified U.S.
drone operations.
Taipei, July 24, 2019 – UPS (NYSE:UPS) today
said it has applied to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for Part
135 certification to operate commercial drone flights in the UPS®
network under a subsidiary business called UPS Flight Forward Inc.
The
new subsidiary is a recently incorporated business that could receive Part 135
certification as early as this year, putting UPS on track to have one of the first
fully certified revenue-generating drone operations in the United States. When
approved, UPS Flight Forward will be positioned to be one of the first
fully-certified U.S. drone operations to complete routine flights. This
certification lays the foundation for drone flights beyond an operator’s visual
line of sight and for flights occurring day or night. Such flights are
highly restricted in the United States and approved only by exception.
“UPS
is committed to using technology to transform the way we do business,” said
Scott Price, UPS chief transformation and strategy officer. “UPS’s formation of
a drone delivery company and application to begin regular operations under this
level of certification is historic for UPS and for the drone and logistics
industries, overall.”
In
contrast to more-limited FAA certifications for drone flights for other
companies, UPS Flight Forward would operate under the FAA’s full Part 135
certification, which conveys a legal designation to a
company as a certified Air Carrier and Operator.
Currently, UPS is operating drone
healthcare deliveries under a specific use-case under FAA Part 107 rules. In
March, UPS initiated the first FAA-sanctioned
use of a drone for routine revenue flights involving the transport of a product
under a contractual delivery agreement in the United States at WakeMed’s flagship hospital
and campus in the Raleigh, N.C. In this program, the company delivers medical
samples via unmanned drones, supplementing a ground courier service. UPS has
said it intends to expand its drone delivery service to other hospitals or
campus settings.