TRAVERSE CITY — In January, the plan for the Medical Drone Delivery Pilot Project was to test-fly drones in May. However, coming into June, the drones have yet to fully take flight.
The project is being worked on by multiple collaborating companies, including Munson Healthcare, BlueFlite, Central Michigan University, Traverse Connect and DroneUp.
Tracy Cleveland, vice president for the supply chain at Munson, said the delay in tests is because a partner company is leaving.
“DroneUp was the drone operator who was a part of our team, and they are leaving that space as a business,” Cleveland said.
Vice President of Business Development for DroneUp, Greg James, said in an email statement that the company was moving away from delivery operations and will “focus on scalable platform, autonomy, and airspace-management capabilities”.
“This decision reflects current market timing and delivery economics at scale, not a limitation in our technology or operational capability,” James wrote in the email.
Despite the sudden change, Cleveland said the project will adapt, adding that Munson will be working with BlueFlite for the immediate future.
BlueFlite, the drone manufacturer for the program, will now take responsibility for obtaining its Federal Aviation Administration-approved drone license to start operating in that capacity, according to CTO James McClearen.
“We didn’t have to deal with the FAA or get the waivers of the exemptions or the permits, etc.,” McClearen said. “So we’ve taken on that piece of the puzzle directly to get the regulatory requirements to do the operations where historically DroneUp was going to do all that.”
Although BlueFlite has stepped up to do both operations and manufacturing, Munson is talking with Traverse Connect about finding more partners.
Cleveland said a potential opportunity has arisen to work with the National Guard in northern Michigan.
“The defense department ... declared Camp Grayling as part of Northern Michigan’s national all-domain warfighting center (NADWC),” Cleveland said. “There’s nothing formal in place, but we are talking about, ‘How can we work together?’”
The program is funded by a state grant called the Advanced Air Mobility Initiative, which was approved in July 2025. The grant partners with state departments, including defense and aerospace, transportation, economic opportunity and veterans affairs.
Traverse Connect CEO Warren Call said the project is currently at Phase Two.
Call said the program’s next goal is to get the drones operating outside the pilot’s line of sight. He also hopes to have a mechanism on the drones that controls the climate inside the luggage compartment.
Drone testing is expected to restart near the end of this summer.
