Drone Delivery Canada Achieves Compliant Status for the X1000 Sparrow

A Compliant UAS is the first of three regulatory components to the Transport Canada Compliant UAS Operator program, and mandatory for a Compliant UAS Operator Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC).

This milestone allows DDC (Drone Delivery Canada) to move forward to becoming a Compliant UAS Operator with the anticipation for the balance of the other two of three approvals to follow.

DDC has submitted the required documentation and is confident of its approval in the remaining steps: “Achieving Compliant UAV Status is the first of three very critical steps in DDC achieving its Compliant Operator Status Certificate. We anticipate obtaining the balance of the approvals in early Q1 2018,” commented Tony Di Benedetto, CEO. “We are very thankful to the efforts of the Canadian Government and Transport Canada in creating a favourable environment to grow innovative technology and position Canada as a leader in commercial drone delivery technology on a global scale.”

Achieving Compliant UAS Operator status is also the first requirement for being permitted to conduct Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight (BVLOS) operations. This achievement will allow DDC to conduct safe and effective drone deliveries in Canada.

More than 1 million UAVS still awaiting the parliamentary "Green Light"

Though UAVs have begun to enter the commercial space, the future for them still has significant uncertainty: Today, UAVs require skilled operators for actual use, and have a high crash rate, factors that will slow down acceptance in various end applications. UAVs also have technical obstacles due to issues like low electric range, lack of true autopilot, and basic airworthiness, but the authentic main obstacle is the chaotic current state of regulation: While countries such as Canada and Australia are ahead of the game, with regulations in place and commercial flight actively happening, many countries have little or no meaningful regulatory structure, putting the UAVs awaiting the parliamentary "green light" to take off.

Canada cautious on UAV development

One of the more detailed studies of UAVs in Canada has been conducted by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, which earlier this year published a lengthy tome on the privacy implications of the new technology. (Read more)