Amazon is reportedly firing dozens of employees working on its long-awaited drone project

• Amazon It is reportedly firing dozens of R&D and manufacturing personal working on its delivery drone Amazon Prime Air service, according to a Financial Times report.
• The company is turning to two outside manufacturers to build components for the drones, with further deals potentially in the pipeline, a person familiar with Amazon’s plans told the paper.
• Amazon’s drone deliveries are still “years away,” but development will progress “slowly but surely” in 2021, the person said.
• The Amazon Prime Air service, operational since 2013, received permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to begin conducting drone delivery operations in August.

Amazon would reportedly lay off dozens of staff working on its drone delivery project, Amazon Prime Air, by turning to outside manufacturers to help build the devices.

The works it would be lost in research and development as well as manufacturing, the Financial Times reported Thursday, citing a person familiar with Amazon’s plans.

The online Retail The giant has reached a provisional agreement with Spain’s Aernnova Aerospace and Austria’s FACC Aerospace to produce components for its drone, the FT reported. Amazon plans to use electric drones to deliver packages up to five pounds in less than 30 minutes. The service has been in progress since 2013.

A person familiar with the matter told the newspaper that the full terms of the agreements were still being finalized.

Amazon had sent a “request for proposal” to multiple companies in the past year, which means further agreements with third parties could be reached soon, the person said.

Advertisement

Seven years after the project was unveiled, Amazon’s drone deliveries are still “years away,” the person said, but development will progress “slowly but surely” early next year.

Business Insider reached out to Amazon for comment. The two external manufacturers in question, Aernnova and FACC, specialize in the production of aircraft components for the aviation industry. Some of their customers include Airbus, Boeing, and Bombardier.

Read more: Amazon is aggressively underestimating grocery competitors like Walmart and Target amid the pandemic in an effort to capture the huge shift to online shopping

Aernnova and FACC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Amazon received clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to begin testing drone deliveries in June 2019.

In August, the FAA granted Amazon permission to begin making drone deliveries.