At its AI event in Las Vegas last week, Amazon executive Jeff Wilke debuted Prime Air’s newest electric drones to much fanfare and said he expected to be “delivering packages via drone to customers within months.”
And while that may be true for some consumers, Amazon does not yet have the regulatory approval it needs to begin widespread drone deliveries in the U.S. Instead, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the government agency responsible for air safety, told Adweek it issued a special airworthiness certificate to Prime Air, which allows it “to operate its unmanned aircraft for research and development and crew training in authorized flight areas.”
