Amazon targets sixfold Prime Air expansion to nearly 500 US cities as delivery race intensifies

TLDR

• Amazon asked to withdraw its Westborough, Massachusetts Prime Air site plan application, in a letter dated 30 October.⁴²⁴³⁴⁴
• The request is "without prejudice"; the Community Advocate says Amazon has not abandoned its plans altogether.⁴²⁴³
• Drone Authority says no report shows the Planning Board has acted, and a state certificate is still required.⁴⁶

Amazon said in August it plans to expand Prime Air drone delivery to nearly 500 US cities and towns by the end of 2026, a sixfold jump from its 11 metro areas across seven states, with a top executive projecting the service is on track towards 1 million deliveries.¹ Rivals are scaling in parallel: Alphabet's Wing has passed 1 million commercial deliveries across 20 US markets, and Zipline, operating on four continents with 2 million deliveries to date, has taken a new investment from Uber aimed at reaching 1 million Uber Eats drone deliveries a day by 2029.²

That expansion is now colliding with residents at existing hubs. In Richardson, Texas, one resident tracked 52 Prime Air drones passing overhead in a single day, including three flying as low as 150 to 170 feet, and homeowners' association president Scott Bratcher said "the government and the F.A.A. have failed us."³ The friction traces back to the FAA's 28 July national environmental finding for Part 135 drone delivery, which lets hubs fly up to 1,150 deliveries daily while keeping drones 600 feet from homes, a distance calculated using the fleet's loudest aircraft at 78 decibels in flight. A separate FAA filing for Amazon's Baton Rouge hub recorded hover noise at 92.1 decibels measured from 25 feet, which the agency compared to a diesel truck passing at 50 feet.³ Amazon has since adjusted flight paths and raised its average outbound altitude to 225 feet in response to complaints; the window to legally challenge the FAA's national noise finding closed 26 September 2026.³

The same pattern surfaced pre-launch in Westborough, Massachusetts, Amazon's first proposed New England site, covering a 7.5-mile radius including Shrewsbury, Northborough, and parts of Grafton, Worcester, Sutton, and Southborough.⁴ Planning board vice chair John Gelcich voiced scepticism about Amazon's noise data at a 23 September community meeting, and residents raised privacy and safety concerns; Amazon described its drones' sound as "comparable to a window fan on low, lasting 30 seconds," said there is no live camera feed, and said captured images are stored on encrypted drives.⁴ The planning board has not yet approved the site changes Amazon needs to launch there.⁴

Tallahassee is now showing the same setup pattern one step earlier still, before any public meeting has happened. Amazon has posted $27/hour job listings for Prime Air Ground Handlers who handle batteries and equipment, monitor airspace, and work community-facing shifts up to 12 hours, and has filed an 18 September permit for a drone storage unit at its fulfilment centre near Mahan Drive and Interstate 10.⁵ Carl Fuqua, an adjunct drone instructor at Tallahassee State College invited to an upcoming "Drone Delivery Community Meet and Greet," said community feelings are mixed: "It's not like we're the guinea pig for it either."⁵ An Amazon spokesperson told the Tallahassee Democrat the company is "planning a community event in Tallahassee," but as in Westborough, no flight-radius or route detail has been made public yet.⁵ Unlike Richardson or Westborough, Florida state law explicitly bars Tallahassee from regulating drone flight paths or altitude, or from denying Amazon a permit based on where it sites its drone port, leaving only local nuisance, property-damage, and voyeurism law as potential levers.⁵

Why it matters: three markets in five weeks, Richardson, Westborough, and now Tallahassee, are following the identical sequence of quiet hiring and permitting, then a community meeting, then noise and privacy pushback, confirming this is a structural feature of the "nearly 500 cities" rollout rather than a one-off. Tallahassee adds a new wrinkle: Florida's pre-emption law means residents there have even less local leverage than Richardson or Westborough did.

The rollout's other emerging thread is safety, not noise. On Monday, 21 September 2026, an Amazon Prime Air MK30 (registration N328PA, FAA-registered to Amazon.com Services LLC) made an unplanned landing on a workplace lawn in Waco, Texas, the same city where Amazon launched Prime Air deliveries in November 2025.⁶ Eyewitness Danny Bishop, who works at the site, photographed the drone resting tail-down with its two landing wheels extended and posted the images to Facebook, writing that Amazon dispatched a "chase truck" and that the aircraft was expected to make "a full recovery."⁶ No injuries were reported, and all six propellers appeared intact, consistent with a controlled landing rather than a crash.⁶ Amazon has not disclosed a cause; the company's general policy attributes such "Safe Contingent Landings" to triggers like sudden weather, cell outages, emergency air traffic, or system failures.⁶ It was the second public MK30 landing in ten days, following one that came down beside a Baton Rouge boulevard on 11 September 2026. Waco itself previously saw a separate incident in November 2025, when a different MK30 (N139PA) clipped a residential internet cable and drew an FAA investigation; no FAA investigation has been reported for this new landing.⁶

Why it matters: the precautionary landings are a distinct thread from the noise and permitting fights in Richardson, Westborough, and Tallahassee, but they compound the same story. As Amazon scales towards its nearly-500-city target, each new city is a fresh occasion for the rollout to generate incident-level scrutiny, whether over decibels or an unplanned touchdown on someone's lawn.

A third site, North Haven, Connecticut, has become the subject of duelling claims about its status. First Selectman Michael Freda posted on Facebook Saturday that after speaking with "an Amazon representative representing Amazon Corporate, not Amazon North Haven," he could report "the drone initiative is now on hold."⁷ House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora, whose district covers part of North Haven, disputed that account the next morning, writing that "the application has not been put on hold, but merely extended for two weeks."⁸

The underlying fact both men can point to is the same: Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection extended its public-comment deadline on Amazon's application from 1 October to 15 October.⁸ DroneXL's analysis notes that extension is real, but no filing was withdrawn and no regulatory clock stopped; the FAA's own 60-day coastal-consistency review, triggered 17 August, continues to run to 16 October regardless of Freda's statement.⁸ Five state legislators, four Republicans including Rep. Dave Yaccarino, plus Democratic Sen. Christine Cohen of Madison, wrote DEEP's acting commissioner on 25 September raising concerns about the roughly 80-pound, six-rotor delivery drones' potential effect on nesting birds.⁷ Yaccarino called the plan "a horrible idea."⁷ State legislators are set to meet with Amazon on 5 October, a session both Freda and Candelora acknowledge, though Freda calls it one of several required rounds of input before Amazon proceeds, while Candelora calls it a routine briefing unconnected to any pause; Amazon itself has issued no on-record statement addressing the dispute.⁸

Why it matters: the North Haven standoff shows two different officials reading the same regulatory extension as either a win for drone-delivery opponents or a non-event, while Amazon stays silent on which account is accurate, a reminder that "paused," as applied to a drone-delivery rollout, can mean very different things depending on who is doing the pausing.

A fourth thread has emerged in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Amazon's drone-delivery service out of its North Randall, Ohio facility, which began flying 24 September, has drawn noise and privacy complaints from nearby Cleveland Heights residents, who sit inside the facility's 7.5-mile delivery radius.⁹¹⁰ Mayor Jim Petras has a meeting scheduled with Amazon next week and plans to ask whether the flight pattern can be adjusted away from residential neighbourhoods and towards a more commercial area.⁹¹⁰ Resident Joe Iacobucci said, "Nobody asked me if I wanted things flying overhead," citing concerns about surveillance and the possibility of a lookalike drone being flown nearby, and others described the drones' sound as similar to a swarm of bees or a lawn mower.⁹¹⁰ Amazon has made comparable routing changes before: in Richardson, it raised the minimum altitude for outbound flights to an average of 225 feet and rerouted select departures over a commercial area before they entered a neighbourhood, following resident complaints, though it has also declined bigger asks, telling Richardson residents who wanted flight paths moved over major roads instead of homes that doing so would add safety risk and energy use.⁹ Separately, Shaker Heights officials confirmed that delivery drones flying in the region operate for both Amazon and Cleveland Clinic's Zipline prescription service, and said the FAA regulates the flights.⁹

Why it matters: Cleveland Heights is the latest city where Amazon's drone rollout is colliding with residents who were not consulted before the flights began, adding to a growing pattern of post-launch noise and routing disputes (Richardson, Westborough, Tallahassee, Waco, North Haven) that is shaping how, and whether, Amazon adjusts its delivery routes city by city.

A fifth thread, concerning international expansion rather than a US city, has surfaced in Australia. Amazon is hiring a Head of Regulatory Approvals, Australia, for Prime Air, based in Sydney or Canberra and reporting to a Leader, Prime Air Expansion, Asia Pacific.¹¹¹² The ad carries no posting date; The Register reported it live on 28 September, and SmartCompany reported it in Australia on 6 October.¹¹¹² The ad's second sentence frames this as evaluation rather than commitment, saying Prime Air evaluates Australia and other countries, but it reads like groundwork for a launch: it names the regulator, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, the specific airspace rules under CASR Parts 101 and 102, the operating certificates, and the land-use permissions from state and local governments the hire would need to clear, and it lists existing working relationships inside CASA's RPAS regulatory team as a preferred qualification.¹¹ Australia would be Amazon's third country outside the US: Prime Air flies in Britain from a single Darlington warehouse under a trial permission expiring in December, and Amazon stopped its Italian programme in San Salvo in December 2025.¹¹ Amazon has not announced an Australian launch date or site.¹²

Why it matters: a specific, detailed regulatory-hiring posting, naming the regulator, the certificates, and the preferred CASA relationships, is a stronger signal of real international-expansion intent than a vague statement, even without a confirmed launch date, especially after Amazon's UK trial permission is set to expire in December and its Italian programme already folded.

A sixth thread has emerged in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Amazon wants to add an on-site drone-delivery pad at its existing same-day delivery warehouse on Water Tower Road, which would be the company's first South Carolina drone site, but needs land-use approval from city planners first.¹³ At a 7 October planning-commission workshop, Amazon economic development official Tareq Wafaie faced resident questions on noise, privacy, wildlife impact, and aerial safety, concerns the Post and Courier noted echo pushback already seen in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Texas communities in Amazon's expansion footprint.¹³ Wafaie told the commission that whether drones fly over a given neighbourhood is the FAA's call, not the city's or Amazon's; the FAA, separately asked by a local TV station, said operators and local communities carry the primary responsibility for addressing those concerns, with the agency's own role limited to safe integration and compliance.¹⁴ Amazon's slide at the workshop put the drones' noise at 65 dBA on departure and 68 dBA on arrival at the pad; the FAA's own noise filing for the same aircraft, filed for Amazon's Baton Rouge hub and built on Amazon's own test-range measurements, lists takeoff at about 82 dBA 20 feet from the pad.¹⁴ No vote was taken; the planning commission is scheduled to take the application up again on 20 October.¹⁴

Why it matters: the gap between Amazon's stated 68-decibel noise figure and the FAA's own 82-decibel measurement for the same aircraft, surfaced at a public workshop rather than in a filing, gives residents and other cities a concrete, checkable number to push back with as Amazon's sixfold expansion keeps hitting the same community-noise objection site after site.

Update, 15 October 2026: A seventh thread returns to Westborough, Massachusetts, where opposition has moved from the town hall to Congress. On 14 October, Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren and Reps. Jim McGovern and Lori Trahan sent letters to Amazon and the FAA asking for a Westborough-specific environmental assessment with a public comment period before any flights begin, and for responses by 29 October.¹⁵¹⁶¹⁷ Their argument is that the FAA's 28 July nationwide environmental finding for MK30 operations rests on earlier site reviews, described as more than 20 in the final assessment and 23 in the letters, in 11 states, none of them in New England.¹⁵¹⁶ The letters raise noise, wildlife, the character of Westborough's historic town centre, and the fire risk of lithium-ion batteries.¹⁵¹⁶

The proposed site is at 64 Otis Street, where Amazon has described eventually handling up to 1,000 deliveries a day of packages up to 5 pounds within a 7.5-mile radius.¹⁵¹⁷ A voluntary resident survey drew more than 1,500 responses, 93 per cent opposed, though it is self-selected and not a representative poll.¹⁵ The Planning Board has continued its hearing on the site to 10 November, and the Zoning Board of Appeals is due to hear a resident challenge next month.¹⁵¹⁷ DroneXL points out that the congressional letters describe the 23 September town meeting as zoning-related, which the local record disputes: no vote was taken, no zoning amendment is before the town, and the building commissioner ruled on 26 August that the drone use is accessory to the existing building.¹⁶ Massachusetts is also among the 15 states, plus Harris County, Texas, suing the FAA over its nationwide environmental review of drone delivery.¹⁵¹⁶

Update, 16 October 2026: An eighth thread comes from Portland, Oregon. The city council voted 11-0 on 14 October (Councilor Loretta Smith absent) to adopt Resolution 37754, directing the City Attorney to notify Oregon's land-use agency that the council intends to consider a temporary moratorium on building facilities that support commercial drones.¹⁸¹⁹ The notice starts a 45-day period under ORS 197.520 before the council can adopt a moratorium; the resolution does not itself adopt one or change city development rules.¹⁸¹⁹ Councilors Sameer Kanal and Elana Pirtle-Guiney introduced it, and Pirtle-Guiney said a moratorium "doesn't say this can never happen," only that the city would pause while it sets code.¹⁸¹⁹ Amazon applied last month for a land-use permit to build a drone delivery base at its North Portland warehouse, with launch planned next year, and cancelled a permitting meeting set for the following week; Amazon did not immediately respond to OPB.¹⁸¹⁹ OPB reports Amazon's drone programme currently operates in 11 US cities.¹⁸

Why it matters: Westborough is now the clearest test of whether the FAA's single nationwide environmental finding will hold up against local demands for site-specific review, and a federal delegation joining the town's planning fight, on top of the multistate lawsuit, raises the odds that Amazon's New England debut and its wider sixfold expansion face delay or additional review, even though no regulator has yet agreed to require one. Portland adds a West Coast city to the local pushback, but where the Massachusetts fight centres on federal environmental review, Portland is using zoning to regulate where hubs can be built; the 45-day clock means nothing is blocked yet.¹⁸¹⁹

Update, 20 October 2026: Community Advocate reports that Shrewsbury's Select Board voted 4-0 on 13 October to send Amazon a letter asking that the drone delivery rollout be paused until community concerns are resolved.²⁰ The service would be based in Westborough, with drones flying over Shrewsbury and other neighbouring towns, which the article does not name.²⁰ Board member Carlos Garcia said he asked for the item to be on the agenda and that it would serve the community's interest to "join hands with our colleagues in neighboring municipalities."²⁰ Member Gregg Richards proposed requests that the other three members approved adding: that Amazon hold a public hearing in Shrewsbury, publish proposed flight paths over the town, release more data on drone noise levels, and name a point of contact for resident complaints.²⁰ The article reports no response from Amazon.²⁰

Why it matters: Shrewsbury adds a neighbouring town to the Westborough fight, with local boards pressing Amazon for public hearings, flight paths and noise data rather than a ban; as the letter is a request with no stated binding force and only one outlet reports it, whether Amazon changes its Westborough plans will show how much weight these municipal appeals carry.

Update, 21 October 2026: CBS News Boston reports that Westborough voters approved the bylaw 510 to 13 at a special town meeting on Monday 19 October, and that the state attorney general must review it before it takes effect.²¹ DroneXL gives the same tally and describes the measure as Article 34, which bars launch and landing pads, staging points and commercial drop zones, sets a 150-foot buffer from employee parking and workplace entrances, and carries a $300 fine per offence.²² CBS says the bylaw sets fines but gives no amount, and DroneXL says the text does not regulate routes, altitude or flight paths.²¹²² WHDH reports the attorney general's office has 90 days to approve or reject it.²³ Amazon told CBS it is "aware of the bylaw recently passed in Westborough" and will keep "engaging with local officials and community members" while it weighs its plans for the area.²¹ CBS says opponents plan to appeal to the local zoning board to stop Amazon using its existing facility for launches, and DroneXL reports that the Zoning Board of Appeals hears the residents' appeal on 2 November and the Planning Board continued its site-plan hearing to 10 November.²¹²²

In South Carolina, The Post and Courier reports that North Myrtle Beach's planning commission voted 6-0 on 20 October against a land use amendment Amazon needed to build a drone launch pad at its Water Tower Road distribution site.²⁴ It would have been Amazon's first drone delivery option in the state, and the paper says approval would have allowed up to 1,000 flights a day within a 7½-mile radius.²⁴ Commission chairman Silvio Cutuli said the request covers one parcel but "the drone issue is larger than that," and noted the city has no formal commercial drone ordinance.²⁴ The paper says hundreds of residents objected over property values, safety, noise and wildlife.²⁴

Why it matters: Westborough has moved from letters and requests to a bylaw that targets the ground end of Amazon's operation, and a South Carolina commission has now refused the pad Amazon needed, but the bylaw cannot take effect until the attorney general acts and the North Myrtle Beach decision rests on a single outlet's reporting.²¹²⁴

Update, 22 October 2026: Sixteen central Massachusetts lawmakers wrote to Governor Maura Healey, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll and Attorney General Andrea Campbell asking for a task force to review state rules on commercial delivery drones and an indefinite moratorium on state agencies accepting or processing commercial drone delivery operator certificate applications.²⁵²⁶ The Worcester Business Journal, citing State House News Service, says the letter went out on Monday, while the Franklin Observer says Tuesday.²⁵²⁶ The Business Journal reports that a Healey spokeswoman said the request is under review, and quotes Senator Michael Moore on federal preemption of airspace.²⁵ The Franklin Observer says the letter argues that states keep control over ground operations such as takeoff and landing sites, notes that DoorDash has received the same FAA permit as Amazon, and reports that Amazon hopes eventually to make up to 1,000 deliveries a day within a 7.5-mile radius of its Westborough fulfilment centre, serving Westborough and 15 surrounding communities.²⁶

In Florida, Amazon showed its MK30 drone to the public on 20 October at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee and said service should begin by mid-November, DroneXL and WCTV report.²⁷²⁸ DroneXL, citing the Tallahassee Democrat, says the local fleet is 21 drones with up to 10 airborne at once, a 7.5-mile range and a 5-pound payload, and that the fulfilment site's structure permit was still under review.²⁷ WCTV reports a goal of delivery in under two hours, about 3 million drone-eligible items, and 60 to 70 per cent of orders eligible.²⁸

Why it matters: Massachusetts lawmakers are testing whether a state can slow commercial drone delivery by controlling certification and ground sites despite federal control of airspace, while Tallahassee shows the Florida launch moving to a date; the two outlets differ on the day the Massachusetts letter was sent, and the governor's response is still pending.

Update, 23 October 2026: The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) sent Amazon a letter on Thursday 22 October from Aeronautics Division administrator Denise Garcia, addressed to Jonathan Greeley, Amazon's head of policy in New England, and Tareq Wafaie, its economic development policy manager.³¹³² The letter says Amazon cannot establish a takeoff and landing area in Westborough, or anywhere else in Massachusetts, without first obtaining a certificate of approval from the Aeronautics Division under Chapter 90, citing Section 39B and Amazon's FAA Part 135 approval as making its operations commercial flights.³² It says the division had received no official notification or request for review from Amazon, must complete a suitability review, will assess environmental risks including pending litigation over the federal approach to environmental review, and should be expected to hold at least one public hearing.²⁹³⁰³² The letter lists community concerns bearing on the safety decision: flights over private property at very low altitudes, potential harm given the size and weight of the vehicles, and deconfliction with public safety agencies and other drone operators.³² Interim Secretary Phil Eng said MassDOT will "carefully scrutinize" Amazon's plans and hold a public hearing.³⁰

The Boston Globe reports that Amazon spokesperson Lindsay Hamilton said Prime Air has a safe track record across nine states and that Amazon welcomes the chance to demonstrate its safety.³⁰ The Globe says Amazon had originally planned to start in October, that Westborough's planning board granted an accessory use permit over the summer, and that residents' appeal arguing the pads are airports needing a special permit goes to the Zoning Board of Appeals on 2 November.³⁰ WCVB says the bylaw approved at Westborough's Special Town Meeting, with a 150-foot safety zone and a $300 fine, also needs approval from the Attorney General and the MassDOT Aeronautics Division.²⁹ The Globe dates the lawmakers' letter to Governor Healey to Monday, which matches the Worcester Business Journal and not the Franklin Observer's Tuesday in the 22 October update.³⁰ DroneXL, reading 702 CMR 5.03, calculates that an application filed on 22 October could meet the state's 90-day lead time no earlier than 20 January 2027; that is DroneXL's own interpretation, not MassDOT's statement.³¹

Update, 28 October 2026: Amazon told NBC 5 it has about 21 drones deployed at its Markham, Illinois, fulfilment centre, carrying up to 5 pounds as far as 8 miles at a cost to Amazon of under $5 per delivery, and that it plans more centres; NBC says the rollout is not yet official.³³ CBS Chicago reported on 14 October that Prime Air drones were officially delivering to nearby neighbourhoods, put the range at 7.5 miles and quoted an Amazon spokesperson saying the customer response had been "overwhelmingly positive".³⁴ Amazon told CBS the programme created 30 jobs at the site; CBS notes that Amazon corrected that figure from 55 after the story aired.³⁴ Homewood residents quoted by both stations complained about noise, and Amazon told CBS no one views live video from the drones, with onboard cameras and sensors used only for navigation and obstacle detection.³³³⁴

DroneXL reports that the FAA's drone environmental review index, last updated on 14 October, lists a single Chicago assessment: a draft environmental assessment dated July 2026 covering Markham, Matteson and West Chicago, with up to 1,000 MK30 flights a day from each site between 6 a.m. and 10:30 p.m.³⁵ Comments closed on 14 August, and when DroneXL checked on 27 October no final assessment or signed finding had been posted.³⁵ DroneXL says the public record does not show whether Markham flies under that draft or under the FAA's 28 July national finding, which 15 states, Illinois included, asked the Second Circuit to throw out on 28 September, and that Amazon's newsroom has nothing on Chicago since an August notice promising the area "soon".³⁵ DroneXL, citing the Country Herald, also reports that Homewood told residents it cannot ban drones or regulate their noise because Illinois law makes unmanned aircraft regulation an exclusive state power.³⁵ DroneXL's argument that Amazon should favour a tethered design over the MK30 is its editor Haye Kesteloo's opinion, not a finding.³⁵

Why it matters: the update adds an Illinois launch to the Massachusetts permitting dispute above, with residents reporting deliveries while the FAA's public Chicago file shows only a July draft and Amazon has not said which approval it flies under.³³³⁴³⁵

Update, 30 October 2026: WTNH reported on 28 October that North Haven First Selectman Michael Freda, speaking after a meeting of the South Central Regional Council of Governments, said "a decision is not going to be made on this until sometime in 2027", based on "what we were told".³⁶ DroneXL dates the meeting to Monday 26 October and notes that WTNH does not say who told Freda or which decision the date refers to.³⁶³⁷ WTNH says Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is determining whether the programme is consistent with the state's federally approved Coastal Management Program, and that a DEEP spokesperson said more than 1,000 letters of public comment were received.³⁶ State Rep. Dave Yaccarino (R) said that at a meeting earlier this month Amazon answered controversial questions from legislators with "We'll get back to you; we'll see", while Freda asked for individual meetings in each community inside the 7.5-mile zone; an Amazon spokesperson said its representatives will keep meeting community members and other stakeholders in the coming months.³⁶

DroneXL says no DEEP or FAA record it checked carries a 2027 date, that DEEP's notice page still lists only a 15 October comment deadline, and that DEEP told a CT Mirror columnist in a column published on 18 October that its final ruling would come by mid-November.³⁷ The Yale Daily News reports that the FAA's request describes up to 1,000 drone flights a day, 365 days a year, between 6 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. from the existing North Haven warehouse across a 7.5-mile radius that includes parts of New Haven.³⁸ It says residents were split, with some citing safety, noise and security and others citing convenience and technological progress.³⁸ It gives Amazon spokesperson Jack Stelzner as saying Amazon is "committed to working with state and local officials and other stakeholders as we continue to explore operations in Connecticut", and says the FAA did not respond to a request for comment.³⁸ The newspaper says the DEEP comment period lasted two weeks in September, whereas DroneXL says it ran to 15 October after a 15-day extension.³⁷³⁸

Why it matters: the North Haven plan has moved from the early October dispute over whether it was on hold to a state coastal-consistency review with over 1,000 public comments, and while one local official cites a 2027 decision, DroneXL found no DEEP or FAA record giving that date and the decision it refers to is not specified.³⁶³⁷³⁸

Update, 31 October 2026, Nampa, Idaho: CBS2 Idaho News, KIVI and KTVB report that Amazon launched Prime Air drone delivery in Nampa on Friday 30 October.³⁹⁴⁰⁴¹ KTVB, which says Amazon contacted it on Friday to say the option was live, reports that Nampa is the first city in Idaho to get Prime Air and that the coverage zone reaches a small portion of Boise.⁴¹ KIVI says the company announced it was eyeing Nampa in May.⁴⁰

KIVI reports that the service uses 85-pound MK-30 drones to deliver packages of up to five pounds within a radius of 7.5 miles, operating only in daylight hours from 30 minutes after sunrise to 30 minutes before sunset, with a target delivery time of 30 minutes.⁴⁰ KTVB puts the zone at roughly 170 square miles around Amazon's facility at 5295 E. Franklin Road in Nampa, says a home needs enough open ground for a drone to drop a package safely, and says customers can check eligibility at amazon.com/dronedelivery.⁴¹ CBS2 and KTVB give the same prices: Prime members pay nothing on orders of $50 or more and $2.99 on smaller orders, with $4.99 for non-members.³⁹⁴¹

KTVB adds that the FAA has certified Prime Air under Part 135, and that federal regulators studied noise, scenery and wildlife effects under the National Environmental Policy Act before the launch, with other agencies including the US Fish and Wildlife Service weighing in.⁴¹ It says the Nampa site will hire for engineering, operations, customer support and safety roles, but that Amazon has not said how many workers it will employ.⁴¹ KIVI lists Nampa alongside parts of Phoenix, Detroit, San Antonio, Dallas, Tampa, Waco, Kansas City, Omaha, Baton Rouge, Cleveland, Chicago and Houston, and KTVB says Amazon already flies drone deliveries in parts of a dozen metro areas.⁴⁰⁴¹

Why it matters: the launch turns the Boise-area plan into a live service and adds Nampa to the metro areas where Prime Air operates, with KTVB reporting that FAA Part 135 certification and a National Environmental Policy Act review preceded it, while the 30-minute delivery time is Amazon's target rather than a measured result.⁴⁰⁴¹

Update, 1 November 2026, Westborough, Massachusetts: Amazon has told Westborough it is withdrawing its application for a Prime Air drone launch site at its Otis Street fulfilment centre. In a letter dated 30 October, it asked the Planning Board to approve withdrawing its site plan review application "without prejudice", according to WBUR and WHDH.⁴²⁴⁴ State Sen. Michael Moore and Reps. Hannah Kane and Kate Donaghue said in a joint statement that Amazon called them on Friday evening to say it would withdraw.⁴²⁴⁴⁴⁵ WHDH gives the application number as 26-02275 and says the proposal would have turned part of a parking lot into a drone takeoff and landing field.⁴⁴

WBUR and WCVB report that the plan covered deliveries of packages under 5 pounds within a 7.5-mile radius.⁴²⁴⁵ The quoted passages of Amazon's letter give no reason for the withdrawal. They say Amazon "values its relationship with the Town of Westborough and looks forward to continuing to work with town officials on next steps," and Drone Authority notes that the full letter has not been published.⁴³⁴⁶ The Community Advocate says the move does not mean Amazon has abandoned its plans altogether, and that the application had been headed to a possible Zoning Board of Appeals vote on 2 November.⁴³ Drone Authority says the town's Prime Air page still listed that 2 November hearing, on a residents' appeal of the town's zoning interpretation, and a Planning Board hearing continued to 10 November as of the morning of 31 October, and that no report says the Planning Board has acted on the withdrawal request.⁴⁶

The lawmakers credited residents, the advocacy group Mass Blue Skies and local officials for raising concerns about noise, safety, privacy and environmental and quality-of-life impacts, and WHDH says they also thanked Gov. Maura Healey, Lt. Gov. Driscoll and the federal delegation led by Sen. Ed Markey's office.⁴²⁴⁴ Rep. Jim McGovern said he was glad Amazon had pulled the application.⁴³⁴⁵ WCVB adds that 16 central Massachusetts lawmakers had asked the governor for an indefinite moratorium on processing commercial drone delivery operator applications, and that the state Aeronautics Division administrator told Amazon it cannot establish a takeoff and landing area anywhere in Massachusetts without a Chapter 90 certificate of approval.⁴⁵ Drone Authority says the division's letter, dated 22 October, told Amazon to expect at least one public hearing before any decision, and that the requirement would still apply to any new plan.⁴⁶

Why it matters: withdrawing the Westborough application ends, for now, the plan that drew a 510-13 town meeting vote on a drone bylaw, according to the Community Advocate, and a state-level push for a moratorium, according to WCVB, but it was requested without prejudice, no Planning Board action has been reported, and Drone Authority says the state certificate and public hearing would still apply to any new proposal.⁴³⁴⁵⁴⁶