FAA

Ireland’s Manna looks to bring drone delivery to EU, US

A Manna delivery drone flies over a waiting customer

Dublin-based drone delivery company Manna is planning to expand its service outside Ireland to both the United States and mainland Europe, according to two separate reports. The startup, which primarily delivers food and medicines, plans to fly in the U.S. as early as this year and in Europe as soon as 2023, Manna executives said.

Today, the company’s drones fly in the suburbs of Dublin and Galway. The aircraft, which resemble miniature quadcopters, reach speeds nearing 40 miles per hour and fly...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/irelands-manna-looks-to-bring-drone-delivery-to-eu-us

How are aircraft saving jet fuel with gradual descents?

A white Mesa regional jet with a blue tail flying through blue sky and clouds as it comes in for a landing. The FAA's new rules allow planes to descend more efficiently.

The Federal Aviation Administration last year established optimized profile descents at 42 airports last year with the goal of saving millions of gallons of fuel and reducing CO2 and other emissions. Another benefit is less noise.

Let’s cut through the technical language. Optimized Profile Descents (OPD) are new flight techniques that allow airplanes to descend from cruising altitude to the runway in a smooth, continuous slope with engines set at near idle. In other words, pilots flying into...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/how-are-aircraft-saving-jet-fuel-with-gradual-descents

Aviation sector says resolving 5G safety conflicts will take years

Close up a cell tower with 5G repeaters.

Resolving the safety challenges posed by 5G wireless broadband service to the aviation sector will take years despite progress in recent weeks that prevented major disruptions for the flying public and cargo shippers, airline, manufacturing and union representatives told lawmakers on Thursday.

Developing permanent standards that go beyond the current “Band-Aid” risk mitigation is needed to allow for the safe and efficient functioning of commercial and general aviation aircraft, and retrofitting...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/aviation-sector-says-resolving-5g-safety-conflicts-will-take-years

What the FAA wants to know about flying COVID vaccines

A cooling container in the lower hold of a passenger plane.

The Federal Aviation Administration is asking airlines for data on their experience shipping COVID-19 vaccines to understand lessons learned that could be disseminated as best practices or inform development of regulations, minimum standards or guidance for the safe and efficient transport of the medicines.

Passenger and all-cargo airlines have been critical to the effort of governments and humanitarian groups to distribute coronavirus vaccines around the world. They have moved billions of doses...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/what-the-faa-wants-to-know-about-flying-covid-vaccines

FedEx, UPS operate large Boeing freighters FAA says vulnerable to 5G

A UPS jumbo jet takes off with mountains in the background.

A new Federal Aviation Administration regulation prohibiting Boeing 747-8 freighters and all 777 widebody aircraft from landing at airports where 5G towers might interfere with onboard safety equipment could have a disproportionate impact on major cargo airlines like UPS, FedEx and Atlas Air.

The airworthiness directive issued Tuesday said the FAA has identified an additional hazard from interference with radio altimeters beyond creating a landing danger in low-visibility conditions....

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fedex-ups-operate-large-boeing-freighters-faa-says-vulnerable-to-5g

FAA yanks proposed safety conditions for FedEx missile defense system

A white FedEx cargo jet with a purple tail flying across blue sky on landing approach.

The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday withdrew special safety conditions it officially proposed earlier in the day that FedEx Express would need to meet in order to receive approval for installing a laser-emitting antimissile defense system on an aircraft.

The decision effectively puts on hold any review of FedEx’s plan for an onboard missile countermeasure. FedEx (NYSE: FDX) applied to the FAA in late 2019 for certification to modify the design of an Airbus A321 passenger plane to...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/faa-yanks-proposed-safety-conditions-for-fedex-missile-defense-system

FAA greenlights Flytrex for 1-mile drone deliveries in North Carolina

Flytrex receives FAA approval for drone deliveries up to one mile away

In a landmark certification for the company, drone delivery provider Flytrex on Tuesday announced that it had received FAA approval for drone deliveries with a range of up to 1 nautical mile in North Carolina, expanding its reach to approximately 10,000 households in the state.

As part of the certification, Flytrex will be permitted to fly its drones over people and moving vehicles within a 1-nautical-mile radius of its operating stations in Fayetteville, Raeford and Holly Springs, into which...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/faa-greenlights-flytrex-for-1-mile-drone-deliveries-in-north-carolina

Drone Racing League now an FAA-approved drone event organizer

Drone Racing League becomes the first-ever FAA-accredited drone event organizer

Drone delivery technology has accomplished some incredible things in 2021, delivering everything from hot wings to 3D-printed organs. Drones are already capable of piloting themselves, flying hundreds of miles on a single charge and navigating landscapes from the cities to the suburbs and everywhere in between.

So … why hasn’t drone delivery taken off? The easy answer is that FAA regulations in the United States are currently tighter than those in countries like Ireland, Canada, Uganda and Rwanda

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/drone-racing-league-now-an-faa-approved-drone-event-organizer

DroneUp acquires airspace traffic management company AirMap

DroneUp completes acquisition of AirMap to bolster safe drone deliveries

Drone delivery in the United States has been a game of inches. Every so often the FAA will marginally loosen the restrictions holding back drone delivery, and drone companies will gain an inch of progress. Remote identification, operations over people, nighttime operations –– these are just a few of the small victories for drone delivery companies, but FAA regulations continue to keep the U.S. behind countries like Ireland, Canada, Uganda and Rwanda when it comes to drone delivery.

For the FAA,...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/droneup-acquires-airspace-traffic-management-company-airmap

DroneDek latest to call for looser federal drone regulations

DroneDek the latest to pen letter to FAA, urging changes to drone regulations

When Dan O’Toole came up with the idea for DroneDek, he was just one man following Amazon’s vision of nationwide delivery by drone.

“I was daydreaming and I just started thinking about drone delivery,” O’Toole told Modern Shipper in an interview in October. “And then I thought, OK, the drone’s the easy part, the glamorous part, right? But where’s all this stuff gonna end up?”

Fast-forward a couple of years, and O’Toole was rivaling Amazon for that very same vision — and winning. Amazon’s drone...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/dronedek-latest-to-call-for-looser-federal-drone-regulations

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