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DroneWaves: UPS takes aggressive approach with drone airline

‘We think speed and convenience of drone delivery is like no other’

Kevin Wasik of UPS Flight Forward discusses drone operations during DroneWaves.

FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: UPS’ aggressive approach to drones

DETAILS: UPS (NYSE:UPS) has embraced an aggressive approach to deploying drones for delivery services. In 2019, the company created UPS Flight Forward, an FAA-certified drone airline. Flight Forward already has revenue-generating operations in the health care sector. So what does the future hold?

SPEAKER: Kevin Wasik, head of business development, UPS Flight Forward

BIO: Wasik has been with UPS for 14 years. Before becoming the head of business development at UPS Flight Forward in 2020, he served in a variety of roles that covered health care, e-commerce and sales. 


KEY QUOTES FROM WASIK:

“We think speed and convenience of drone delivery is like no other. If you want a same-day delivery via ground courier today, it’s likely you’re going to be issued a three-hour delivery window. With drones, we’re going to deliver in 30 minutes or less or give consumers an option of a 30-minute delivery window of their choosing.”

“We see an opportunity to improve the UPS small package network with fully electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft like Beta. … We can bypass our hub-and-spoke network to move these urgent payloads wherever they have to go. And with 20 million packages per day, in our network, we have an up-close and personal view. We know where those pain points are and we know how this new technology can be used to improve service for our customers.” 

“If I had one ask for the FAA, it would be to kind of structure a new department dedicated to UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems). That would help accelerate our work. But for now, we have great relationships throughout the organization.”

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Nate Tabak

Nate Tabak is a Toronto-based journalist and producer who covers cybersecurity and cross-border trucking and logistics for FreightWaves. He spent seven years reporting stories in the Balkans and Eastern Europe as a reporter, producer and editor based in Kosovo. He previously worked at newspapers in the San Francisco Bay Area, including the San Jose Mercury News. He graduated from UC Berkeley, where he studied the history of American policing. Contact Nate at [email protected].