With the constant increase in technology, a new debate over unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), commonly known as a drones, has surfaced as both a problem and a solution. Typically, in the past, a UAV has been associated primarily with the military, but recent technology has made drones available to the common consumer, and is now being used commercially. Amazon, who began as an online book store, now surpasses Walmart as the most valuable retailer in the United States by market capitalization. They plan on using commercial aerial drones to deliver small to medium packages in under thirty minutes to customers who pay for the Prime Air service. What seems like a good idea in retrospect, this new type of delivery service is inexperienced and potentially dangerous to people. Prime Air should not become a reality in the near future because it is not properly regulated and the government needs to time to study how a high fluctuation in commercial drones will effect the environment.
The argument against Amazon Prime Air comes from the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) who currently regulates the commercial drones. The problem with the drones does not have to do with the lack of technology, but the persistence of regulation. These drone services will not be able to ‘take off’ without regulations to govern the practice. The regulation of commercial drones has become a hot topic because of the increase in their popularity. The agency is responsible with determining how hundreds, or maybe even thousand, of these drones will be able to fly over densely populated areas without crashing or interfering with other aircrafts or even humans. In the news recently, an emergency helicopter claimed that he had to act quickly to avoid an unmanned aerial vehicle that came close to crashing into the propellers of the helicopter. These aerial machines are dangerous to pilots of other air crafts and need to be heavily regulated.
Amazon had applied to the FAA in July of 2014 in order to test the Prime Air service. Now, currently in December of 2015, Amazon’s application is still pending. Amazon vice president for Global Public Policy, Paul Misener, claimed that the U.S. is behind other advancing countries implementing the same technology. “This low level of government attention and slow pace are inadequate, especially compared to the regulatory efforts in other countries,” Misener says. The slow pace for regulating commercial drones is completely necessary. This is a new type of technology that could entirely wipe out and replace certain industries such as mail carrier services. These drones could become so popular that they are seen as frequently as planes in the sky. It is a future that could end up a disaster if the FAA does not closely evaluate it at such a slow pace.
Another argument against Amazon’s commercial drones is that there will be no human pilots involved. The automated aircrafts will be guided entirely by Global Positioning System satellites. This could be potentially dangerous if the system ever faults and the drone ends up crashing into something or someone. Even as Amazon urgently pushed for the acceptance of their commercial drones, the FAA is not close to permitting the drones yet. The agency on just recently launched a program to develop regulations for the prototype drones in May. The FAA’s current mindset is to have these drones be operated by a human who has to stay within sight of the robot at all times. Amazon Prime Air drones should also be accused with potentially taking jobs away from hard working people. If these drones are deemed a success for their free services, as popularity for them increase, they could potentially be taking away delivery jobs.
The argument against Amazon Prime commercial drones is putting a halt to a future profitable industry and needs to stop. This is the future of commercial retailing and the FAA is not taking the proper course to regulate this technology. On Cyber Monday, following Thanksgiving weekend, Amazon released a video demonstrating the achievements they have made towards building a fully operational airborne robot that climbs to around 400 feet and speeds along at 55 plus miles an hour. The video shows the drone taking off and how it will navigate the airspace to deliver a new pair of shoes to a suburban lawn. It is a great feat of technology, and a shame that it is estimated that it will be another three years before regulations will allow Amazon to implement this service, but it could take longer.
“One day, seeing Prime Air vehicles will be as normal as seeing mail trucks on the road,” Amazon said in an accompanying statement on its website. The FAA has been criticized for not implementing regulation after being asked to almost a year ago and counting. “There would have to be a very thorough program of testing,” said Wayne Plucker, an aerospace technology analyst for Frost & Sullivan. But the future is now, and other countries have already taken to implementing commercial aerial drone technology. “What the FAA needs is impetus, lest the United States fall further behind,” claimed vice president of Global Public Policy, Paul Misener.
In fact, the U.K. has already seen regulations and is likely the first place where Amazon will reveal it Prime Air services. The estimated timetable to regulations in the U.S. does not sit well with Amazon, which is anxious to start with its new delivery service.
In the end, this new idea of an aerial drone delivery service will cater to increasing consumer demand is a great commercial innovation that could create a whole different type of market and industry. While there may be risks, the good outweighs the bad, and businesses big and small should have access to drones to give an advantage in their respected industry. And finally, as other first world countries are beginning to develop and use drones, it would be a poor decision for the United States to fall behind in what could be a vital market in the future.
I firmly stand by Amazon’s commercial drone delivery service because it is a new market that Amazon is highly qualified to take charge of. They have a business style that could implement commercial drones better than any other company, and are willing to take the risk. But Amazon will not be able to take the risk if they continue to be slammed with regulations from the Federal Aviation Authority, or FAA. So while other countries begin to accept the new technology, the United States’ government will only slow down the inevitable.
Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities told CNBC that Amazon should keep their eyes of the skies and focus on the road ahead. "I think technological feasibility is now," Pachter said, "But I think legal possibility is at least 10 years out. So no contribution from this until we get a government that can meet and agree on things." I disagree with Pachter here because people will support this type of innovation. The claim from Amazon Prime Air is that with these new delivery drones, the company will be able to deliver a certain size package in thirty minutes or less. One could make a claim that no ones really needs a package in such a short amount of time, but if a consumer sees it as a reality they are going to start to want it in that time. Additionally, this sort of technology appeals to the futuristic version of the world that a person might witness in a Sci-Fi movie.
One of the other main arguments against implementing commercial drones is because they could possibly be seen as a safety risk to pedestrians and even aerial vehicles. However, on November 29th, Amazon released a video showcasing their idea. The video claims that the delivery drones use sense and avoid technology to, well, “sense and avoid” any objects during flight.
Amazon can also look in a new direction outside of the country. Several European countries have granted commercial permits to more than a 1,000 drone operators for safety inspections of infrastructure, such as railroad tracks, or to support commercial agriculture, Gerald Dillingham of the Government Accountability Office testified. Compare this to the thirteen companies that have been granted permits by the Federal Aviation Administration, with only limited operations. According to PBS associated press Joan Lowy, Australia has issued more than 180 permits to businesses engaged in aerial surveying, photography and other work. This argument has been acknowledged by Amazon, and claimed that they will bring their commercial drone operations outside of the U.S. and into other territories if the FAA does not grant the respected permits. “It concerns me that road builders in Germany and farmers in France today are enjoying economic benefits from (drones) because safety regulators there have found ways to permit such flights,” said the subcommittee’s chairman, Rep. Frank LoBiondo. The threat of losing such a valuable market that is technologically feasible but limited legally, and also available in so many allied nations, should be a shock to American consumers.
The Federal Aviation Administration has claimed that they have seen some twenty reports a month about pilots claiming that drones are flying close to the vicinity of planes and other aircrafts. The counter argument to this is that those types of drones are piloted by controllers on the ground, while the Amazon Prime Air drones will use advanced technology to avoid such instances.
Americans should add their voice to the fight for allowing Amazon to research their drones in the United States. We should look to the behavior of other countries such as Australia, Canada, Germany, and France; these countries have all loosened restrictions on aerial drones and have benefited from it. For example, Japan has used drones to monitor and spray crops for nearly a decade. Aerial drones will bring about economic benefits that our economy would do well to have. The scare that aerial drones will be a safety risk need to understand that these drones will be using the same technology that driverless cars currently operate under. The drones will not be operated manually, and will avoid other aerial vehicles like planes by flying at a low 500 feet, well below plane flight path heights. The United States leads in drone technology. We have the chance to be the first to start something really big for the economy. It is up to the people to not allow federal regulations to limit the greatness of what could be.
