In the technology world’s equivalent of a teenage sulk, Amazon has told US aviation authorities that “without approval of our testing in the United States, we will be forced to continue expanding our Prime Air R&D footprint abroad.”
It’s now more than a year since Amazon announced its Prime Air delivery service. But things aren’t moving fast enough, with the FAA dragging its heels over Amazon’s testing. So far, Amazon has yet to gain permission for outdoor trials in the US, which makes the idea of parachuting in soft-backs from the skies all but impossible.
Reuters points out that the FAA has agreed that six sites for commercial drone testing be opened, but Amazon’s wasn’t one of them. What’s more, the Wall Street Journal suggests, is that while there are fewer than 10 approved commercial-drone operators in the US, Europe has thousands.
This does surely make shifting testing operations overseas all the more appealing for Amazon. So now it just remains to be seen how the FAA will respond to Amazon’s tantrum. [WSJ, Reuters]