Wing announced on April 9, 2019, that it has become one of the first companies to be commercially allowed to have drones delivering an array of goods. The announcement came after Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) gave it a regulatory nod after wing presented the testing data of over four years.
The service is currently limited to 100 homes in the suburbs –
- Crace
- Franklin
- Palmerston
The current specifications of Wing’s drones are –
- Maximum speeds of 78 miles
- Ability to take-off and land vertically
- Sensors help in avoiding obstacles
- Route mapping is automated via in-built software
- Adoption of drones to save $9 million & 6% of energy
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However, Wing hasn’t had smooth sailing always. A snapshot of the obstacles faced by the company is mentioned below.
- A Wall Street Journal reports that Drones have disrupted the life of locals
- User errors have caused incorrect deliveries
- Drones have been forced to land due to climatic conditions or man-made obstacles
- Wing canceled its collaboration with Starbucks due to disagreements in handling customer data
However, Wing is determined to move forward — it will launch a free 10-minute delivery in Helsinki, Finland for items weighing a maximum of 3.3 pounds for a topmost distance of 6.2 miles.
Wing is not alone in their innovation towards Drones. Other companies testing drones are –
- Amazon
- Microsoft
- Flytrex
- Uber
- FedEx
- Matternet
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Times seem optimistic for the drone industry. As per a Gartner Report published in 2017 about drones, the numbers for the drone industry look solid –
- An excess of 174,000 + drones was sold in 2017
- $454 million — the amount invested in drone/UAV start-ups
- 2020 will see the drone market surge to a whopping $127 billion
With its own set of pros and cons, the drone industry seems poised to disrupt the delivery logistics industries. However, public and government sentiment along with drone functionality will determine the success of drones in the near future.
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