Amazon: Drone deliveries could be just two years away

Amazon's drone could be delivering parcels to customers' doors within two years if a Senate-backed bill is passed; the bill, which now needs to be debated in the House, will also make changes to regulations such as airport security and airplane pricing. Concerns over the implementation of drones delivering goods include: fears that skies are already littered with flying objects, thereby increasing danger levels substantially; the drones could fly into other manned and unmanned vehicles, causing a risk to civilians on the ground,  and a technical glitch could cause the drone to veer off course and plunge into traffic; drones are susceptible to attacks whether by farmers or teenagers; finally, they will most likely be subject to cyber attacks. This latest news also follows the incident near Heathrow Airport earlier this week when a British Airways flight carrying 137 people was apparently hit by a drone.

Drones could be bringing parcels to your door within two years, thanks to a bill that left the Senate today.

The bipartisan aviation policy bill, which passed the Senate 95-3 Tuesday, demands that the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) authorize package deliveries by drones within two years.

The bill, which must now be debated by the House, also makes changes to various regulations including those affecting airport security and airplane pricing.

Buy in the sky: The bill that passed the Senate Tuesday demands that the Federal Aviation Authority OK package deliveries by drones, such as this prototype Amazon design, within two years

It says that the agency must create a small drone 'air carrier certificate' for operators of delivery drone fleets, similar to the safety certificates granted to commercial airlines.

These rules are needed for Amazon and other companies to deploy fleets of delivery drones.

Another provision would establish criminal penalties for the reckless use of drones, aimed at penalizing operators who fly drones near airports without prior approval.

However, The White House criticized the bill's delivery-drone language as 'overly prescriptive' and said it would disrupt the agency's ongoing efforts to write safety regulations for commercial drone flights.

On April 3, the FAA announced that it had received recommendations for delivery drone regulations from a committee comprising drone and aviation experts, companies interested in using delivery drones, and others related to the subject.

The bill also makes changes to regulations concerning airport security and private carriers.

Responding to the attacks on Brussels last month, the bill authorizes an increase of government 'viper teams' - which search suspicious passengers in public areas, often with sniffer dogs - from 30 60.

It also requires the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to use private companies to market and enroll more people in its PreCheck program while ensuring PreCheck screening lanes are open during high-volume travel times.

The TSA has come under fire due to long waiting times caused by understaffing, and it is hoped that vetting passengers before they reach security checkpoints will get them through the system faster, reducing wait times.

Vetting of airport employees with access to secure areas is to be enhanced, random inspections of employees are to be increased and perimeter security to be reviewed.

And secondary barriers will be demanded for all new places to keep unauthorized people from gaining access when a pilot opens the cockpit door.

The wife of a pilot killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks led the lobbying effort to require the barriers.

Security: The bill also makes amendments to security law, including doubling 'viper teams,' which use sniffer dogs to check airports, from 30 to 60

A number of consumer provisions were also added, despite protestations by the airline industry.

One provision forces airlines to refund checked bag fees to passengers whose luggage is lost or arrives more than six hours after a domestic flight has landed, and more than 12 hours after an international flight has landed.

Refunds would also be required for services not delivered, such as advance seat assignments or early boarding.

Airlines' disclosure of fees for checked bags, seat assignments, and ticket changes and cancellations would also be standardized to make it easier for consumers to compare prices.

They would also have to seat families together at no extra charge.

Missing from the bill, though, was a Democratic amendment the Senate rejected that would have barred airlines from further shrinking the size of seats and required the FAA to set minimum dimensions for passenger space.

The bill also extends the Federal Aviation Administration's programs and powers through to October 1, 2017. That authority is due to expire on July 15.

South Dakota Senator John Thune (R) proposed the bill as a bipartisan-friendly way to push changes to aviation law through a House that is currently caught up in a long-running discussion over whether to privatize air traffic control operations.

Airlines have been pressing for privatization, arguing that the FAA's culture is too slow and inflexible to finish the air traffic system's transition from old radar technology to satellites.

The modernization has dragged on for more than a decade and fallen short of promised financial benefits and reduced congestion.

But those changes are opposed by Democrats and powerful GOP committee chairmen reluctant to cede a large share of Congress' authority over aviation to a private, nonprofit corporation.

Thune's bill is a way to tackle issues with aviation laws without broaching that dicussion.