Report: Amazon plans drone-based delivery

Seattle – Amazon.com hopes to someday deliver packages to its customers using unmanned drone aircraft.



According to numerous media reports, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said during an interview on the TV news program 60 Minutes aired Dec.1 that the company is currently testing the use of drones to pick up customer orders in buckets from fulfillment centers to enable delivery within 30 minutes of a customer executing an online transaction.



Bezos reportedly hopes the drone delivery service, which will be called Prime Air, will be operational within four years. However, current Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations prohibit drone usage except by military, law enforcement and private hobbyists. Congress did order the FAA to develop guidelines for private commercial drone usage in 2012, and the FAA has said it plans to have those regulations in place by 2015.