Amazon Pressures FAA Over Drone Rules

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Retail giant Amazon told the FAA this week that it would rather be testing its delivery drones in the U.S., but since the agency has stymied the company’s efforts, jobs and investment in the program are being exported to sites outside the country. “These non-U.S. facilities enable us to quickly build and modify our Prime Air vehicles as we construct new designs and make improvements,” said Paul Misener, Amazon’s vice president for global public policy. His letter (PDF) was posted online Monday in the docket for Amazon’s request for an exemption to the FARs. Misener said the company also had tried getting the drones certified as experimental aircraft, but found the process “burdensome” and “onerous.”

Misener said development of the delivery drones is in the public interest, since they would be safer and more environmentally friendly than current delivery methods. “Amazon is increasingly concerned that, unless substantial progress is quickly made in opening up the skies in the United States, the nation is at risk of losing its position as the center of innovation for the UAS technological revolution, along with the key jobs and economic benefits that come as a result,” he wrote. The company is ready to significantly expand its team of engineers, scientists and aeronautical professionals at its R&D lab in Washington State, he said. “Our continuing innovation through outdoor testing in the United States and, more generally, the competitiveness of the American small UAS industry, can no longer afford to wait.”

Amazon asked the FAA in July to grant permission to test the drones in the U.S. The company wants to operate vehicles weighing less than 55 pounds in isolated areas, within line of sight of the operator, and at altitudes below 400 feet AGL, but so far the FAA has not granted approval. The U.S. House Aviation Subcommittee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the integration of UAS into the national airspace system tomorrow at 10 a.m.

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