Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group to launch drone delivery service

PHOENIX — Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group recently announced plans to become the first scheduled airline in the country to launch a drone delivery service.

The company signed an agreement with aerospace technology company Flirtey to order four delivery drones, with an option to order an additional 500, Mesa Air Group said in a press release.

The immediate goal for the pair is to conduct commercial drone deliveries to the homes of customers in the food and beverage market in the United States, later expanding to New Zealand.

“Drone delivery is a huge market and it’s here now,” Mesa Air Group Chairman and CEO Jonathan Ornstein said in the release.

“This is the future of small package last mile delivery.”

Flirtey will provide the electric-powered, advanced drones as well as the software that conducts autonomous flight operations to Mesa Air Group which will operate the commercial drone delivery.

“With (Mesa Air Group’s) operational excellence, we look forward to rapidly expanding drone delivery focusing on the trillion-dollar last-mile food delivery market,” Flirtey Founder and CEO Matthew Sweeny said in the release.

Through the partnership, Mesa Air Group can expand beyond the global airlines market and into the global food service market.

Mesa Air Group is the holding group for Mesa Airlines, a regional carrier operating as American Eagle and United Express Airlines.

The company provides passenger service to 114 cities in 39 states, the District of Columbia, the Bahamas, Canada, and Mexico.

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