When autonomous and remotely operated aircraft start flying in the system, it’s virtually certain they’ll be carrying cargo rather than passengers and Xwing has embraced that concept by becoming a major cargo carrier. The startup has created a software package called Superpilot, which has been used on autonomous flights in a Cessna Caravan. The company is now flying thousands of flights a year for UPS using crewed Caravans and just expanded its operations. To further the ultimate goal, every one of the thousands of flights it carries out in a year is gathering data for the Superpilot suite.
“Our commercial cargo operations are key to our certification approach,” Marc Piette, CEO and founder at Xwing, said in a statement. “When it comes to integrating unmanned aircraft in the airspace, the FAA operational approvals are just as important as certification of the technology on board the aircraft. Using data gathered from our commercial cargo routes, we can continuously optimize and refine our system end to end, and get to the best solution for our customers.” As daunting as that challenge is, Xwing’s ultimate goal is to use aircraft without onboard pilots to fly passengers.
