Amazon confirmed is ending Prime Air’s drone delivery operations in Lockeford, California. The Central California city of 3,500 was the company’s second aircraft delivery location in the US, after College Station, Texas. The operations were announced in June 2022.
The retail giant did not offer details about the setback, noting only: “We will offer all current employees opportunities at other locations and continue to serve customers in Lockeford with other delivery methods. We want to thank the community for all their support and feedback over the past few years.”
College Station deliveries will continue, along with an upcoming location in Tolleson, Arizona that will begin deliveries later this year. Tolleson, a city of just over 7,000 residents, is located in Maricopa County, in the western part of the Phoenix metropolitan area.
The arrival of Prime Air brings same-day deliveries to Amazon customers in the region, thanks to a hybrid fulfillment center/delivery station. The company says it will contact affected customers once the service is up and running. There is no concrete information on the timeline beyond “this year,” in part due to ongoing negotiations with both local officials and the FAA that are required to deploy in the airspace.
Supply expansion has been extremely slow, in part due to regulatory issues. For much of the project’s life, it looked like Amazon was just dipping its toes into the unproven waters of drone delivery. It looks like Tolleson will be the service’s only expansion this calendar year, with additional news expected through 2025. It remains to be seen if the company will re-enter the California locale.
Amazon reaffirmed its commitment late last year with the announcement of drug deliveries in College Station, bringing select Amazon Pharmacy orders to customers in less than an hour.
Select local governments clearly see these kinds of deals as an opportunity to advertise openness to tech innovation outside of traditional hot spots like San Francisco or New York.
“This kind of delivery is the future and it’s exciting that it’s going to be starting in the Phoenix metro area,” says Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego. “Shifting to zero-emission package delivery will help us reduce local pollution and further establish our city as a hotbed for the innovative technology of tomorrow.”
