Amazon delivery drones are coming to metro Atlanta
Amazon packages will soon fly through the sky as competition heats up among retailers for the fastest delivery times.
Later this year, the online giant plans to launch Amazon Prime Air drone delivery for the first time in Georgia, promising a package will land at customer homes within one hour of ordering.
The drones will embark from an Amazon fulfillment center in Stone Mountain. Delivery will be available within a roughly 7-mile radius of the facility including parts of Redan, Lilburn, Snellville, Tucker and Lithonia.
“Here in the Gwinnett and DeKalb County area, we have a huge customer base,” said Jeff Cleland, head of U.S. regulatory affairs for Amazon Prime Air. “It’s good airspace to operate in — yearlong, decent weather for drones — so (it) checks a bunch of boxes for a place where we want to scale.”
Amazon said it wants to expand further in metro Atlanta but didn’t share specific plans. The retailer already offers drone service in 11 U.S. cities and in one city in the United Kingdom, with more on the way.
The drones can carry a package up to 5 pounds, which represents about 60% of the products customers are typically ordering from Amazon, spokesperson Shemeeka Johnson said.
Popular items for delivery include over-the-counter medicine or Apple AirPods, Cleland said. Drone delivery costs $2.99 or $4.99, but is free for orders more than $50, he said.
Drone delivery services are quickly expanding in metro Atlanta, with both big-box retailer Walmart and delivery app DoorDash taking to the skies in recent months. Zipline drone delivery also held a demonstration in Atlanta this week.
The federal government is pushing to accelerate commercial drone deployment, with the Federal Aviation Administration proposing new rules last year to make it easier for companies to fly drones beyond an operator’s line of sight.
“Aviation is just historically safer than any other mode of transportation,” Cleland said. “This is really a cool way, fast way and safe way to get things to our customers.”
Amazon Prime Air has a Part 135 air carrier certificate from the FAA and was the first company to operate a drone larger than 55 pounds.
Amazon’s strategy is to place the drone operations at its existing facilities. For example, in Georgia, it has 22 fulfillment and sorting centers, along with 12 delivery stations, Johnson said.
For the new drone hub in Stone Mountain, Amazon got approval in May from Gwinnett County for building permits to allow the construction, said Will Cowsert, Amazon’s senior manager of economic development.
Amazon held a community information meeting Thursday at the Gwinnett Community Resource Center in Snellville, where people could pop in and learn about the drones, or grab a tchotchke and a free snack from a food truck in the parking lot.
The event drew a mix of curious residents, drone enthusiasts and people poking around for a new job.
Alhaji Mustapha, a Snellville resident, said he came out of interest. He’s been flying drones for about 11 years and wanted to see Amazon’s technology.
The Amazon drone has a wingspan of about 5 feet and weighs 83 pounds at takeoff. Like a helicopter, the drone ascends and descends vertically, and then transitions to a horizontal position while flying. It can cruise at speeds of up to 74 mph.
“It is massive,” Mustapha said. “It’s a bit weird that something this big is only moving about 5 pounds.”
Another attendee, Evelyn Guevarra of Loganville, said she was in favor of the new service.
“I think it’s a great idea,” she said. “I have an elderly mother who could definitely benefit from something like that, if she needed some medication, or just something quick.”
Clarkston Mayor Beverly Burks also attended the meeting, to understand the technology from an economic development perspective.
Amazon said the drone delivery operations will create about 30 new jobs in Stone Mountain, including roles such as operations manager, maintenance technician and flight monitor.
“It’s vital that we think about how do we transition our communities to be more equipped with the new jobs that are coming,” Burks said. “How do we think about workforce development? How do we prepare our community for what is changing?”