Amazon.com has said that the US regulatory approval that it recently received to test deliveries by unmanned aircraft, or drones, is 'too little, too late'.
Amazon has developed new drone models, and the one approved for testing by the Federal Aviation Administration is no longer being used, Paul Misener, the Seattle-based company’s vice-president for global public policy, recently told US lawmakers at a hearing.
Misener’s testimony highlights the difference in the pace of technology between companies looking to build a competitive advantage and regulators seeking to protect the public from harm. Amazon’s executive urged the federal government to move faster to approve testing of commercial drones, and highlighted the faster regulatory pace in Europe and Asia.
“Nowhere outside of the United States have we been required to wait more than one or two months to begin testing,” Misener told a subcommittee of the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation panel. “What the FAA needs is impetus, lest the United States fall further behind.”
Amazon wrote the FAA in December, threatening to divert its research programme to other countries if the agency didn’t act quickly to approve outdoor test flights of the unmanned aircraft. The FAA recently said that Amazon can fly its drones only during the day, within 400 feet of the ground, and within sight of an operator who has a traditional pilot’s licence.
Amazon wants to be able to program the unmanned aircraft to make the flight while dodging obstacles on its own.
Alison Duquette, an FAA spokeswoman, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on Misener’s testimony.
Bloomberg News, edited by ESM
