Aerospace technology developer Flirtey has received an initial order of four delivery drones from US regional airline Mesa Air Group, with the intention of conducting commercial drone deliveries in the last-mile food and beverage market in the USA.
The agreement marks Mesa becoming the first scheduled airline to launch drone delivery in the USA and includes an option to order an additional 500 UAVs at a later date.
Should the initial trials prove successful, the parties plan to expand the drone delivery service across the USA and to New Zealand.
The technologies being deployed include the Flirtey Eagle, an electric-powered, advanced drone that conducts precision delivery to homes and businesses, and Flirtey’s autonomous software platform that conducts autonomous flight operations.
Jonathan Ornstein, chairman and CEO at Mesa, said, “Mesa is excited to partner with Flirtey to become the first scheduled airline to launch drone delivery in the USA. Drone delivery is a huge market and it’s here now. This is the future of small package last-mile delivery.”
Matthew Sweeny, founder and CEO, Flirtey, said, “Flirtey is excited to partner with Mesa to operationalize our best-in-class drone delivery aircraft and autonomous software platform. With Mesa’s operational excellence, we look forward to rapidly expanding drone delivery focusing on the trillion-dollar last-mile food delivery market.”