X
  • Science

Google's Wing may operate first US drone delivery service, report says

The FAA is reportedly set to announce the first drone airline license.

Headshot of Ty Pendlebury
Headshot of Ty Pendlebury
Ty Pendlebury Editor
TV and home video editor Ty Pendlebury joined CNET Australia in 2006, and moved to New York City to be a part of CNET in 2011. He tests, reviews and writes about the latest TVs and audio equipment. When he's not playing Call of Duty he's eating whatever cuisine he can get his hands on. He has a cat named after one of the best TVs ever made.
Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials
  • Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
Ty Pendlebury
drones-project-wing

A Wing drone delivers groceries in Australia.

 Project Wing/Alphabet

The US Federal Aviation Administration is reportedly expected to award its first drone delivery license in the coming month, and it may be going to Google's sister company Wing.

"In the next month we expect to announce we will have our first ... air carrier certificate for operating a drone airline," FAA Office of Unmanned Aircraft System Integration Executive Director Jay Merkle said at a conference in Singapore, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

While officials didn't name Wing specifically, Reuters reported that the Alphabet subsidiary is the only listed air carrier certificate applicant to the FAA for a drone carrier so far. According to documents available on the Regulations.gov website, Wing has been working with the FAA since September 2018.

Wing became the first drone delivery service in Australia this week after 18 months of tests. The company is also set to launch in Europe, with deliveries in Helsinki starting later this spring.

Google didn't immediately respond to CNET's request for comment.

Watch this: Google experiments with drone deliveries