'); //]]>//--> By Jack M. Germain Apr 29, 2021 4:00 AM PT A surge in online shopping sprung up over the past year due to the pandemic. The rapid adoption pushed the expected timeline for consumers to expand their online shopping forays. It also opened the door to a drone delivery industry to feed a growing demand for increased online deliveries. Companies scrambling to compete with the advancing delivery capabilities offered by Amazon and UPS are looking to drone delivery options. Will this be the future of delivery? Aviation is an extremely regulated environment -- drones, or unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) included. So what does this mean in terms of safety within the airspace? Will the FAA create special allowances for drones that permit them fly with autonomy to deliver packages faster than ground delivery?