Flytrex has announced its longtime partner Causey Aviation Unmanned (CAU) has received an exemption from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to remotely fly drones Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) without visual observers. Extended to only a select group of companies, this approval is recognized as one of the most advanced regulatory approvals to date and sets the stage for mass scaling of CAU and Flytrex’s delivery service, after meeting certain conditions and limitations.
Flytrex has undergone years of rigorous testing to verify that its drone delivery service maintains the highest safety standards, and this milestone is the latest acknowledgement of those efforts. In January of this year, Flytrex operator CAU received its part 135 certification, which allowed Flytrex to expand its drone delivery service nationwide – offering food, drinks, and other goods to the more than 82 million eligible front and backyards across the U.S.
“We take extreme pride in our partnership with Causey Aviation Unmanned and look forward to expanding our joint operations with this highly sought-after authorization from the FAA,” said Yariv Bash, CEO and Co-Founder of Flytrex. “This BVLOS approval not only validates the strength of our drone delivery service, but also sets a precedent for profitable, expanded operations in the industry. As the DoorDash of the sky, we are always striving to offer safer, more efficient, and cost-effective alternatives to traditional delivery methods – BVLOS operations allow us to do just that, on a massive scale.”
This news follows Flytrex’s recent announcement of its Autonomous Pickup capability, which allows for a fully autonomous delivery process—from order placement, to pick-up, through delivery to customers’ yards. Since 2022, Flytrex’s eligible customer base has grown exponentially, from 40,000 eligible customers to 95,000 – a 138% increase. Flytrex’s service is operating seven days a week, drone delivering hundreds of food orders a day to customers’ yards in NC and TX.
“This approval represents a landmark moment for the drone industry. We are grateful to the FAA in helping advance the regulatory framework allowing us to define the next chapter in drone delivery and encourage wider drone adoption throughout the world,” said Jeff Causey, Founder and CEO of Causey Aviation Unmanned. “We are excited to continue our partnership with Flytrex, a company that has helped elevate our service to new heights and enable drone delivery at scale.”
For years, Flytrex and CAU have been working closely with regulators to get drone delivery safely off the ground. Together, they participated in the FAA’s UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP), which concluded in October 2020, as well as the FAA’s subsequent initiative, BEYOND, working with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to help tackle the remaining challenges of UAS integration – bringing swift, affordable and sustainable on-demand drone delivery to more partners, communities and consumers across the country.
