Drone Delivery Arrives In America, Like Pie From The Sky

As drone deliveries start to become commonplace in America, a little aircraft emerged out of the blue above a residence in Texas, dropped its payload of a mid-morning snack there, and then quickly took off. Although IT executives expected that flying deliveries of pizza and birthday presents would become the norm, the service is now accessible in some areas of the United States, and government regulation is catching up.

Drone drop-offs may never be practical on a wide scale, but proponents claim they are faster, safer, and more environmentally friendly than massive, greenhouse gas-emitting delivery trucks. Within minutes of placing her order on a smartphone app, Tiffany Bokhari had the package delivered to her Frisco, Texas home by an electric drone flying above her home.

“On the soda, you can even see the condensation on it because it’s still cold,” she told AFP after the drone from Alphabet-owned Wing had flown off. Service was new in the area and remained small-scale, but Wing offered the comparison of the up to 1,000 deliveries per day it’s doing in just one part of the Brisbane metro area in Australia.

Some businesses have operations operating now or will by the end of the year in some regions of Texas, North Carolina, or California. These businesses use providers such Israeli company Flytrex, Wing, and e-commerce giant Amazon.

In fact, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos revealed a delivery drone in a 2013 interview with CBS, forecasting that airborne items will frequently fly from fulfillment centers to customers’ doorsteps within five years.

Another setback for Amazon’s faltering drone ambitions came last year when one of its delivery drones fell during a test and ignited a bush fire. Others have made more steady progress, and in Texas’s Dallas-Fort Worth, Wing unveiled in April what it terms “the first commercial drone delivery service.” The weight restriction for Wing, which also provides deliveries in select regions of Finland and Australia, is 2.5 to 3 pounds (just over one kilo). “An entire roasted chicken… that’s actually a good visual for the size of what fits,” said Jonathan Bass, who heads marketing and communications for wing