Amazon Takes Flight With First ‘Prime Air’ Deliveries In California

Amazon customers in Lockeford, California, will be the first in the US to receive packages via drone. The drone delivery option, called Prime Air, will fly packages to customers’ backyards in Lockeford, an unincorporated part of San Joaquin County, about 50 miles south of Sacramento.

This article was originally published by ZeroHedge.

“Lockeford residents will play an important role in defining the future. Their feedback about Prime Air, with drones delivering packages in their backyards, will help us create a service that will safely scale to meet the needs of customers everywhere—while adding another innovation milestone to the town’s aviation history,” Amazon said in a corporate press release on Monday.

Each delivery will be limited to five pounds. Amazon said the drones have advanced sensors to navigate around objects, such as trees, chimneys, and telephone poles.

“Lockeford residents will soon have access to one of the world’s leading delivery innovations.

“It’s exciting that Amazon will be listening to the feedback of the San Joaquin County community to inform the future development of this technology,” California State Assemblyman Heath Flora, whose district includes Lockeford, told local news KTXL. 

This is just another example of Amazon automating last-mile deliveries to save time, costs, and resources.

Amazon is one of a handful of companies using drones for last-mile deliveries. The others include FedEx, UPS Flight Forward, DHL Parcelcopter, Alphabet’s Wing, and Walmart.

Besides drone deliveries, Amazon wants to put an Alexa drone in homes for “security purposes.”