The tech giant dreams of filling the skies with package-bearing drones. But it has repeatedly failed to clear technical and regulatory hurdles.
And now that Prime Air has fewer bodies, those targets could be even more difficult to hit. Amazon has announced layoffs of more than 27,000 employees so far this year, and former employees say that a round of cuts on January 18 affected around 140 of Prime Air’s 850 employees.
These reductions could be related to the drone’s latest FAA exemptions, which eliminate the need for several on-ground staff to oversee drone flights. One former employee says that the company could also be redirecting its efforts and funding away from flight-testing the MK27-2 to focus on developing the MK30—a lighter, smaller drone that can fly in light rain—which is set to go into service in 2024.
At the time of the layoffs in January, the only customer deliveries in Lockeford had happened on Taylor Ranch Road, a street with just five homes and a clear view of the Amazon facility across a vineyard, according to two former employees at the site. By March 24, the Lockeford service had reached nine customers, says Zamarripa, who spoke to a Prime Air visual observer. Still, it may be too soon to write off the program as a failure.
In any case, the point may be moot. Lloyd, who says his family enjoys watching the drones descend over the family’s rear deck, was willing to accept the original terms as he understood them. When he spoke to WIRED in mid-March, he was perusing Gillette razor blade refills on the Prime Air website. He says that he is a shopaholic, like many Americans—driven to buy things like soap, batteries, and bandages because of the convenience of online delivery services like Amazon’s.
“This is obviously the future,” he says. “Soon they’ll be flying all over the place, so why not? The worst thing that can happen is I don’t like it, and I can cancel the service.”
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