While autonomous flight innovator Xwing is convinced that remotely operated aircraft are set to make a relatively quick and positive impact on the air freight business, the company believes it will take a lot longer to make this fundamental switch for passenger-carrying flights. Addressing the recent Electric Aircraft Symposium organized by the Vertical Flight Society, the company’s chief compliance and quality officer, Earl Lawrence, maintained that its plans to operate converted Cessna 208B Grand Caravans without pilots on board will transform the economics of the delivery industry. But he emphasized that passengers aren’t ready to accept autonomous flights any time soon.
Xwing’s plan is to control fleets of aircraft with operators supervising multiple flights simultaneously in ground stations. To prepare for this model to be approved by the FAA, the California-based start-up has acquired three air cargo carriers—San Antonio Air Charter, and more recently, Martinaire Aviation and AirPac Airlines—to test its autonomous flight technology in commercial flights with pilots on board. It is providing services under contract to express delivery giant UPS, with a combined fleet of 35 aircraft flying around 400 weekly missions.
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