Amazon is getting ready to send its Prime Air drones buzzing over Chicago’s south suburbs, promising much faster deliveries for some customers served out of two nearby hubs. People who live within a roughly eight-mile service zone around those facilities could start seeing eligible orders drop in by drone in as little as two hours, according to the company.
The first wave of flights is set to take off from Amazon’s fulfillment centers in Markham and Matteson, with service aimed at customers who opt in and live within about an eight-mile radius of those sites, CBS News Chicago reported. Amazon has not laid out a neighborhood-by-neighborhood schedule, so residents are still waiting to see exactly which blocks make the cut.
Markham And Matteson Named As Launch Hubs
In Markham, village officials say flights will be based out of the sprawling robotics fulfillment center off the Tri-State Tollway, a complex they describe as one of the region’s biggest and a key local employer. Local leaders told reporters the program could bring on the order of dozens of additional jobs, and that Amazon plans a regional information session on March 2 in Tinley Park to show off Prime Air in action and field questions from neighbors, NBC Chicago reported.
How Prime Air Works And The Safety Record
Amazon is deploying its MK30 drone for commercial dropoffs, a six-propeller aircraft that can carry about five pounds and, in pilot markets, complete many runs in around 60 minutes while operating beyond the operator’s visual line of sight under FAA approvals. The program has had setbacks, including a pair of MK30s that crashed into a crane in Arizona and earlier software pauses to address altitude-sensor issues, but Amazon says it conducted internal reviews, put fixes in place and then resumed flights, as described in industry reporting and local Arizona coverage.
Industry coverage notes that MK30 drones lower packages to a preselected drop zone, and Amazon says it has built multiple safety checks into daily operations. The company also asks customers to keep pets and children indoors during the brief delivery window, to keep everyone, and everything, out of the way of the descending package. For more detail on the Arizona incidents, see local coverage by AZFamily.
Neighbors Weigh Tradeoffs
Early reaction in the south suburbs has ranged from curious to skeptical. Some residents told reporters they are intrigued by the idea of shaving time off deliveries, while others are already asking about noise, the risk of packages attracting thieves and what this all means for traditional driving and delivery jobs. Amazon and local officials say the drones are programmed to scan for people and pets before lowering packages into a designated drop zone, and that the upcoming demonstrations are meant to show exactly how that works in a real neighborhood setting, NBC Chicago reported.
Amazon has not yet released a detailed rollout map or any south-suburban specific pricing for Prime Air in the Markham and Matteson areas, so residents can expect more clarity at the company’s virtual and in-person sessions next month. For now, local reporting puts parts of the south suburbs on the short list of U.S. markets expected to see Prime Air service this year, according to CBS News Chicago.
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