The Federal Aviation Administration has officially authorized commercial drone flights without visual observers in the Dallas area, a first for U.S. aviation history.
Drones typically require a drone pilot to see the aircraft at all times. However, new advancements in technology have allowed for the changes to make these flights routine. Zipline International and Wing Aviation were authorized to deliver packages while utilizing Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management, a system for uncontrolled operations that is “separate from, but complementary to, the FAA’s air traffic management system.”
“This is the first time the FAA has recognized a third-party to safely manage drone-to-drone interactions,” said Praveen Raju, a program manager in the FAA’s NextGen office. “As always, safety comes first, and we required exhaustive research and testing before giving the green light.”
Wing and Zipline are partnered with Walmart to offer drone delivery to 75% of D-FW, or 1.8 million households, by the end of this year, Walmart said in January. Walmart has been delivering via drone in select Dallas area zip codes since December 2022 with DroneUp. Walmart added more cities last summer with Wing.
The FAA anticipates the initial flights to begin in August and more authorization will be issued in Dallas in the future.
