Amazon.com Inc. formally requested permission from the Federal
Aviation Administration to start testing drones, an important step
toward the online retail giant's goal to use the devices to deliver
packages.
Amazon first unveiled the plans in December, dubbing the
proposed service Amazon Prime Air and saying drones would
eventually be able to deliver small packages to customers in less
than 30 minutes. In its petition to the FAA, posted Thursday,
Amazon said it is now on its eighth- and ninth-generation drone
prototypes, including some that can travel more than 50 miles an
hour and carry 5-pound packages, which would cover 86% of products
it sells.
The Seattle company asked the FAA for an exemption from the
agency's effective ban on the commercial use of unmanned aircraft
so Amazon can test its drones near its headquarters.
Amazon Prime Air "is one invention we are incredibly passionate
about," Paul Misener, Amazon's vice president of global public
policy, said in the request. "We believe customers will love it,
and we are committed to making Prime Air available to customers
world-wide as soon as we are permitted to do so."
He added, "One day, seeing Amazon Prime Air will be as normal as
seeing mail trucks on the road today."
So far, Amazon said, its team of roboticists, scientists,
aeronautical engineers and a former astronaut has been testing its
drones indoors or in other countries because of the FAA's
rules.
"Amazon would prefer to keep the focus, jobs, and investment of
this important research and development initiative in the United
States," Mr. Misener wrote.
The FAA allows the recreational use of drones but prohibits
their commercial use without its approval. The agency has approved
just two commercial drones, both in Alaska. The approval process is
modeled on that for commercial manned aircraft, meaning it is
lengthy, complex and expensive, and can include a requirement for
an airworthiness certification of the aircraft.
However, in a 2012 law, Congress gave the FAA the authority to
grant expedited exemptions for some unmanned aircraft. Earlier this
year, the agency began accepting exemption applications for
"specific limited, low-risk uses" of drones, Jim Williams, head of
the FAA's unmanned-aircraft office, said at a drone conference in
May. Mr. Williams said then that the agency was only considering
exemptions for drones used for filmmaking, agriculture and
inspections of infrastructure and energy plants.
In its request, Amazon says that it would limit its use of
drones to "a confined area over isolated Amazon private property,"
away from airports, densely populated areas and military
installations. The company argues that granting its request will
allow it to "do nothing more than what thousands of hobbyists and
manufacturers of model aircraft do every day, " a common argument
of commercial-drone advocates.
There is other evidence that Amazon is serious about drone
deliveries. The company has at least six jobs posted on its careers
website that are focused on developing Prime Air, including a
project manager, a spokesman, a software engineer and a patent
lawyer. All the jobs are in Seattle, except the software engineer,
which is in San Francisco. In some of the job descriptions, the
company says, "You will work hard, have fun, and of course, make
history!"
Write to Jack Nicas at jack.nicas@wsj.com
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