Alphabet's Wing Earns First FAA Air Carrier Certification for Drone Deliveries
Wing becomes the first drone delivery company to receive an FAA Air Carrier Certification, paving the way for commercial operations in the United States. The company plans to launch its initial delivery trials in Virginia later this year.
Alphabet's Wing division earns the first Air Carrier Certification ever issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration for a drone delivery company. This historic approval allows Wing to officially operate a commercial drone delivery service within the United States. The company plans to launch its first official delivery trial later this year through the FAA's Unmanned Aircraft System Integration Pilot Program in Southwest Virginia.
Over the coming months, Wing reaches out to residents and businesses in the Blacksburg and Christiansburg areas to demonstrate its technology and gather valuable community feedback. This milestone comes after years of preparation, as Alphabet originally debuted Wing back in 2014 and secured initial FAA testing permissions in 2016. The company already boasts significant international experience, having completed over 70,000 test flights and 3,000 deliveries in Australia while simultaneously preparing for upcoming trials in Finland.
Wing focuses heavily on transporting everyday items like food and medicine to consumers. During its validation testing with the FAA, the company successfully delivers breakfast to a local Virginia family and previously drops burritos onto the Virginia Tech campus. Regardless of the specific payload, securing this primary Air Carrier Certification represents a major victory for Wing in the highly competitive race to establish widespread drone delivery networks across the US.