Phoenix will start using drone deliveries later this year.
It will no longer be possible for Amazon customers in the state of California to receive deliveries via drone. In light of the fact that the e-commerce company has decided to close its delivery site in Lockeford, which has been functioning since 2022, the company will now provide possibilities for its employees in the surrounding area to work at other locations. In the midst of an announcement that it will begin utilizing drones for delivery services in the West Valley Phoenix Metro area later this year, Amazon made the discovery almost as an interesting aside. Drones will be launched from facilities located in close proximity to the company’s fulfillment center in Tolleson. Amazon claims that this will be the first time that drone deliveries will be fully integrated into its network. This will enable the corporation to fulfill and transport orders in a more expedient manner.
Due to the fact that the company is currently in the process of obtaining the necessary approvals from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and municipal officials, it is not possible for the company to provide a precise launch date for its drone deliveries in Phoenix. However, it does have the backing of the Mayor of Phoenix, Kate Gallego, who referred to drone delivery as “the future” and stated that it will assist her city in “reducing local pollution” and further establishing it as “a hotbed for the innovative technology of tomorrow.”
Amazon will continue to operate its drone delivery operations in College Station, Texas, even if the company is discontinuing its operations in the state of California. Shortly after the company began using drones as couriers in those two regions, The Information reported that the company has only made a handful of deliveries using the method. This is primarily due to limitations imposed by the FAA, which prohibit the machines from flying over roads or people unless Amazon obtains permission for each individual instance. Due to the fact that the company had expected to achieve 10,000 deliveries by the end of the year, it eventually accomplished 100 drone deliveries by the middle of 2023. However, this was probably a significant departure from what the company had hoped to achieve by that time.
On the other hand, it appears that Amazon has not been deterred by these disappointments. It is now conducting tests on its next-generation MK30 drones, which are capable of flying twice as far as its existing drones. Additionally, it has announced that it would be delivering drone deliveries in additional locations around the United States in 2014.