After a month of testing for its drone delivery service, the results are very mixed for Amazon. Indeed, the firm would have completed less than a dozen deliveries, according to several reports. Two suspects are in the sights: the particularly strict regulations on American soil on the one hand, and the recent wave of layoffs on the other.
In 2013, Jeff Bezos made an announcement worthy of a science fiction scenario: soon, he promised, Amazon would be able to make deliveries by drones. 10 years later, it is clear that the idea is ambitious to say the least. Already last year, several reports were concerned about the catastrophic development of the project. Despite a substantial investment, Prime Air was still suffering one failure after another.
Finally, last month, Amazon finally opened a first phase of testing for the general public. This takes place in California and Texas and, despite some reluctance on the part of the locals, this new stage finally marks a significant step forward for Prime Air. Of the month, that’s what we thought. To date, the service has not even made a dozen deliveries.
The FAA, enemy number 1 of Amazon Prime Air
So what does Amazon make? To understand what’s going on behind the scenes — and why the $2 billion investment fails to get things moving — you first have to look at the FAA. The Federal Aviation Administration, the agency in charge of regulating civil aviation in the United States, has indeed put big spokes in the wheels of Amazon since the launch of the project.
Indeed, as explained by our colleagues from The Verge, the e-commerce giant faces a major obstacle. To date, the FAA prohibits the firm from flying its drones over roads. Specifically, for a drone’s path to intersect a road, an Amazon employee must be on site to ensure that no vehicles are in the lane at the time. Not very practical for a service that tends to do without human intervention, therefore.
On the same subject: Amazon imagines a truck capable of deploying dozens of delivery drones
And that’s not all: until recently, Amazon drones had to fly exclusively over sparsely populated areas, were not allowed to fly over buildings or approach them within 30 meters. . It must be said that the FAA is taking precautions. Throughout the test phase, Amazon caused several crashes of its drones, in particular which started a forest fire on more than 10 hectares. However, the company still does not have the right to fly over people, nor to make trips of more than 6 km.
Amazon has laid off many drone security workers
But the FAA cannot be held solely responsible for this fiasco. In a recent report, Business Insider explains that the security of operations is another major obstacle to the expansion of the program. And for good reason: last November, Amazon laid off 10,000 employees worldwide, many of whom are believed to be part of the drone security team.
“I think that goes a long way on their priorities”testifies an employee who kept his job. “If Amazon cared about safety as much as they like to tell the media, this team wouldn’t have been fired. » At the same time, many people in areas where deliveries take place are expressing concern about the dangers of Prime Air, forcing Amazon to invest heavily in communication about it.
“Recent staff reductions do not impact our delivery plans to these locations”says Maria Boschetti, spokesperson for Amazon, interviewed by The Verge. “We will continue to provide safe and exceptional drone delivery service to our customers in these two locations. We will gradually expand deliveries to more customers in these areas over time. »
Sources: The Verge, Business Insider
