Tell us about Wing and why you participate in World ATM Congress?
Wing and World ATM Congress are roughly the same age. Wing began in 2012 with the objective of making deliveries by air a safer, faster, cleaner alternative to road transport. A subsidiary of Alphabet, we have developed a fleet of highly autonomous, lightweight delivery drones that transport small packages directly to homes in minutes, and we offer commercial drone delivery services on three continents. To further those efforts, Wing is also developing services for UAS traffic management (UTM), so drones can fly safely with each other and in harmony with crewed aircraft.
Since its first edition in 2013, World ATM Congress has provided a great forum for discussing how to integrate drones successfully into airspace. The conversations and meetings this week serve as a catalyst for change and innovation. Wing is looking forward to meeting regulators, industry, ANSPs, and others; and is excited to be sponsoring the Wing ATM Theatre and organizing three sessions in the education theatres.
How do you envision crewed aviation working with companies like Wing to share airspace?
Sharing information between all airspace operators is crucial. We have developed our ‘OpenSky’ application, an open UTM platform which enables cooperation between industry, drone operators and regulators to ensure safe, easy, and open access to the sky. All of this happens within seconds and a few clicks. The publicly available OpenSky application was successfully launched in Australia in 2019 and in the USA in 2021.
In Europe, Wing is working with France’s DSNA on ‘U-space Together,’ which demonstrates the role that UTM solutions can play in curating open, safe, secure, and interoperable UAS ecosystems. As part of this project, Wing has adapted and is trialling its OpenSky platform in France to ensure that an open UTM platform can enable cooperation and communication between UAS operators and airspace authorities in controlled airspace.
We are still in the early phases of integrating drones into airspace but our work over the past seven years has shown that it is certainly possible for crewed and uncrewed aviation services to safely and efficiently share the sky.
Why has Wing chosen to play such a prominent role in regulatory negotiations in the USA and Europe?
Wing has active delivery operations in Australia, Finland, and the US. We believe that airspace should be a shared resource for all operators, so we strive every day to empower diverse communities with safe and equitable access to the sky. One of the ways we do this is by working with regulators around the world to harmonize rules across borders, which will ultimately make it easier for drone operators to comply with laws and safety standards. Accordingly, we have maintained a close dialogue with global regulatory authorities to share best practices and promote regulatory frameworks that reflect the collective wisdom and needs of the drone community.
Looking ahead – when can we expect to see drone delivery become mainstream, and what barriers are in the way?
You are going to see even more collaborative and creative solutions! Through our collaborations, trials and tests, we have shown how drones are creating a new era of accessible aviation. The expansion of airspace access is firmly underway, and over the past several years, Wing has been committed to global initiatives (research, technology development, and policy) that demonstrate how industry ecosystems and collaboration can evolve to support the volume and diversity of unmanned aviation. We believe drone delivery will improve the way our cities operate by reducing road congestion and pollution and creating new economic opportunities for local businesses.
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