Amazon, Google See Shift in Regulatory Stance on Commercial Drones

The two biggest companies seeking to use drones for package delivery say that U.S. regulators have suddenly become more receptive to their efforts, a potential boost to the chances of success for one of the burgeoning technology’s most promising commercial uses.

Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc. say they have noticed the sharp shift in attitude in recent weeks on critical issues such as drone test flights.

In an apparent sign of the recent shift in attitude, the Federal Aviation Administration plans to announce Wednesday an initiative to study drone flights beyond the sight of the operator, according to a person familiar with the agency’s plans. Thus far, the agency has virtually banned such flights, including for research, and it proposed rules earlier this year that would prohibit them.

The drone industry views beyond-sight flights as key to unlocking the commercial potential of drones, enabling everything from pipeline inspections to deliveries.

Drone companies have criticized the FAA for its stance on such flights and for its requirement that one human oversee each drone flight, which prevents large-scale automated missions by a fleet of drones. The policies have cast doubt on the chances that Amazon or Google could deliver packages with drones in the U.S. in the next several years.

“Honestly in the last two to three weeks, things have made a dramatic change,” Dave Vos, head of Google’s delivery-drone project, said Tuesday at a drone conference. “Three to four months ago, we were a little bit concerned about how much progress we could make here in the U.S., but … what we’re seeing today is significant opportunity to work here in the U.S. with the FAA.”

“I don’t know what triggered it,” Mr. Vos said later in an interview. “They’re talking to us and we’re collaborating.”

Gur Kimchi, the head of Amazon’s delivery-drone project, said that the FAA had recently become more open to his company’s efforts to use automated drones to deliver packages within 10 miles of a warehouse.

The FAA declined to comment.

The companies cautioned that discussions are still preliminary. A federal official said it is virtually certain that the FAA won’t amend the drone rules it proposed in February to allow beyond-sight flights before the long-awaited rules are completed next year. That is partly because any such change would require allowing public comment, delaying the rules further.

Details of the FAA’s planned announcement Wednesday on a research initiative for beyond-sight drone flights weren’t immediately clear. The FAA currently allows a Boeing Co. subsidiary and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials to fly drones beyond sight off the coast of Alaska and along U.S. borders, respectively.

Those flights are allowed because air-traffic control manages separation between the drones and manned aircraft. Amazon and Google want their drones to fly virtually autonomously in busier airspace, which will require sensors and software that enable the devices to navigate environments on their own, sensing and avoiding obstacles. Several companies say they are getting closer to developing such technology.

Amazon’s and Google’s comments are part of the larger embrace between the FAA and the drone industry at industry conferences over the past week, largely driven by the FAA rules proposal, which was less restrictive than expected.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-google-see-shift-in-regulatory-stance-on-commercial-drones-1430864309