Amazon’s winding down Prime Air operations in Lockeford, California, in another setback to its pioneering drone delivery program.
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Amazon is winding down its Prime Air drone delivery program in Lockeford, California — an early testing zone for a service that allowed local residents to order products weighing up to five pounds and get them delivered to their location via drone in 30 minutes.
In the same press release, Amazon also announced that the company is launching a new Prime Air location in Tolleson, Arizona. The new location is expected to provide “same-day” deliveries to residents in the West Valley Phoenix metro area. Amazon expects to begin operations in Arizona starting later this year.
The press release doesn’t provide a clear reason as to why the Lockeford location, which opened for business in 2022, is closing, though it does say employees at the Lockeford location will be offered “opportunities at other sites.”
Amazon states it will continue Prime Airoperations in College Station, Texas, and plans to open new locations in 2025. Meanwhile, the company’s latest MK30 drone — which is less heavy and can fly through light rain — is still undergoing testing, according to the press release.
The new drone was revealed in November 2022, after the company was reportedly hampered by other models that sometimes crashed and burned in testing. The MK30 was projected for use in operations this year.
Amazon had an early head start to its drone delivery service compared to its competitors but has fallen drastically behind over the years. In 2013, then-CEO Jeff Bezos said drone deliveries were four to five years away.
The company previously aimed to make 10,000 drone deliveries by the end of 2023; it was last reported that only 100 deliveries were made by the middle of 2023. Meanwhile, rival delivery company Zipline has reported completing 1,000,000 deliveries as of April 19th.
