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Commercial drones haven’t gone mainstream due to technical challenges, scalability, and regulatory barriers. But they’re in high demand during the pandemic and can social distance in three dimensions. Coincidence? I think nay.
Delivery from the sky
On Monday, UPS and CVS announced they’ll use drones to deliver prescription medication to residents of The Villages, a Florida retirement community. The FAA-approved service will start with baby steps in May using Matternet M2 drones. UPS will fly medicine from a CVS pharmacy to a pick-up location near The Villages less than a half-mile away. A ground vehicle will then deliver the medicine to doorsteps.
Baby steps precede bigger leaps. With 135,000 residents, the Florida mega-neighborhood is one of the largest retirement communities in the U.S. The service could expand to include two additional CVS pharmacies in the area and direct drone-to-doorstep delivery.
Elsewhere, Alphabet’s drone unit Wing is busier than ever in Virginia. Last week, Flytrex launched a drone delivery service for food, medicine, and other goods in Grand Forks, ND. And a Matternet/UPS revenue-generating delivery service for medication in Raleigh, NC, has already completed 3,700+ flights to date, according to UPS.
Inspecting eagle eyes
The FAA has loosened restrictions for at least one drone operator so far during the pandemic. Last week, the agency issued a coronavirus-related waiver to a Houston energy company, allowing the company’s staff to fly drones beyond line of sight to examine oil and gas facilities.
As legal flight restrictions have eased, the law itself has turned drones loose. Police in the U.S., Spain, France, and China have deployed drones to enforce lockdowns and monitor public spaces.
The common thread: Demand for uncrewed aerial vehicles is way up. My bet is it stays up post-pandemic, but widespread adoption will depend on 1) whether companies can navigate red tape and 2) if communities find it convenient to receive their medicine, burritos, or face masks from the sky.