Amazon Prime Air lays off 80% of flight operations personnel

Today, we learn that Amazon Prime Air, the drone delivery business, laid off around 80% of its flight operations personnel without a proper warning.

According to a now-former Amazon employee, personnel in all of Amazon’s drone delivery business locations, including Lockeford, College Station, Seattle, and Pendleton, are affected.

The unexpected layoffs have also impacted the Amazon Prime Air safety team.

“The cuts weren’t based on merit, [but] rather strictly on salary. They kept the cheaper personnel,” a source with intimate knowledge of the layoffs informed DroneXL.

The layoffs among flight operations personnel occurred in the midst of both customer deliveries and a Durability and Reliability campaign for a type certification on Amazon’s new delivery aircraft.

According to our sources, Amazon is explaining the unfortunate turn of events as a “learning experience” for those still working in the retailer’s drone delivery program.

However, the majority of people still employed in Amazon’s drone program have actively begun to look elsewhere, implying that the drone delivery program is “currently dead.” according to our source.

Unlike what Jeff Bezos famously announced in 2013, it appears that drone deliveries will not become a routine business occurrence for Amazon Prime Air anytime soon.

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Haye Kesteloo

Haye Kesteloo is a leading drone industry expert and Editor in Chief of DroneXL.co and EVXL.co, where he covers drone technology, industry developments, and electric mobility trends. With over nine years of specialized coverage in unmanned aerial systems, his insights have been featured in The New York Times, The Financial Times, and cited by The Brookings Institute, Foreign Policy, Politico and others.

Before founding DroneXL.co, Kesteloo built his expertise at DroneDJ. He currently co-hosts the PiXL Drone Show on YouTube and podcast platforms, sharing industry insights with a global audience. His reporting has influenced policy discussions and been referenced in federal documents, establishing him as an authoritative voice in drone technology and regulation. He can be reached at haye @ dronexl.co or @hayekesteloo.