Expect more drone deliveries in North Texas soon
NORTH TEXAS — You can expect more drone deliveries in DFW. That's because the FAA has authorized new technology that will allow for unmanned operations.
"I think people really see the value and utility and efficiency and safety of the system of drone deliveries," Zipline Head of U.S. Operations Jeff Williams said.
Companies like Walmart have been offering the service. Food, household items and medication are just some of the things that can be dropped off at your door.
Traditionally, drone operators have called or texted each other to share their routes and make sure there's no interference.
Now, the FAA has authorized an unmanned traffic management system, or UTM, developed by the San Francisco-based company Zipline.
"It's effectively an air traffic control system and what that allows for us to more efficiently keep flights safe and reliable at scale," Williams said.
Zipline will be launching in DFW later this year. They'll be joining companies like Wing, that are already in operation locally.
"Very soon we expect to be all around the region," Williams said.
For anyone who's skeptical about safety, Williams said Zipline has already done more than 1 million deliveries worldwide without incident.
"We've flown over 80 million miles," he said.
He's confident with the approval of this new technology, they can grow even more and make drone deliveries mainstream.