A drone with an Amazon package floats in front of the Amazon logistics center in Leipzig, Germany, 28 October 2014. (Photo by Peter Endig/picture alliance via Getty Images)
From toiletries to grill accessories, hundreds of cities could now begin to see their Amazon deliveries literally drop from the sky, as the retail giant is expanding their drone delivery service to nearly 500 cities nationwide.
What they're saying:
While millions of people will now get their deliveries through the air direct to their homes, the practice is only a fraction of the volume of deliveries they go through each year. However, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy believes their "Prime Air" service will be a definite part of the mix in the company’s near future.
"Prime Air now has a design that’ll scale, plans to serve communities with 30 million customers by year-end, and expects to deliver half a billion packages by the end of this decade (with an aim to deliver inside 30 minutes)," Jassy to shareholders in a letter earlier this year.
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What we know:
The drone deliveries will be free for Amazon Prime members, while non-members will pay $4.99. Orders will also have to have a $50 minimum, otherwise a $2.99 fee will be added for smaller orders.
The drones will primarily fly in suburban areas, away from skyscrapers and major airports. Their payloads will also max out at a five pound limit for each drone. This is in addition to noise ordinances and other additional regulatory hurdles in every local community where Amazon operates.
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Laws regarding drone restrictions
The backstory:
In 2025 a federal law was proposed to help companies operate drones over longer distances without needing to go through an entire process of obtaining waivers and additional permissions.
Amazon and some major utility companies have already had hundreds of such waivers approved through the federal government. The new law would hope to limit the process, making it easier to get approval.
Dig deeper:
According to the rules, drones, which are only allowed to be up to 1,320 pounds (including payloads), are only allowed to fly under 400 feet, so that they follow certain Federal Aviation Administration precautions to not disrupt air travel and other aviation problems. Operators are also required to have collision-avoidance technology to keep their drones away from other aerial drones and airplanes.
The other side:
With more and more drones being used in military operations and terrorist attacks, as seen in the war in Iran, the FAA consulted with the Department of Homeland Security to address many of the security concerns associated with increased commercial drone usage. Drone operators now have to go through background checks and a certification process to operate drones out of their sight.
The Source: This story was written with information provided by The Associated Press. This story was reported from Orlando.