New Amazon Drone Obstacles as FAA Liaison Exits

Glenn Taylor
·4 min read

A lead player in Amazon’s Prime Air drone delivery program has left the e-commerce giant.

Sean Cassidy, who served as Prime Air’s director of safety, flight operations and regulatory affairs since June 2016, announced his departure from the company last week in an internal staff memo.

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Cassidy’s LinkedIn confirmed his departure this month, while Amazon also confirmed the development to Sourcing Journal. CNBC first reported the news.

Cassidy, a former Alaska Airlines pilot and former vice president of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), joined Amazon in 2015 to oversee its strategic partnerships in the drone unit.

“This is my last day at Prime Air and at Amazon, so a quick note to pass along my profound thanks to so many of my friends and colleagues here who have made this nearly nine-year journey such an amazing experience,” Cassidy wrote in the memo.

Cassidy oversaw much of Amazon’s relations with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in an effort to get the Prime Air program off the ground. In August 2020, Amazon received Part 135 certification from the FAA, allowing it to use unmanned drones to deliver packages, but with some restrictions.

In back-to-back months during summer 2022, Amazon revealed it would begin testing drone deliveries in Lockeford, Calif. and College Station, Texas.

But Prime Air has been slow to develop due to regulatory hurdles, friction with the FAA on exemptions and restrictions, and a slew of layoffs reportedly impacting the department.

While Amazon’s drone delivery head David Carbon set an internal target to make 10,000 drone deliveries in 2023 between the two test sites, Amazon later said that its drones have delivered “hundreds of household items” in College Station since December 2022. The company didn’t say how many deliveries have been made in Lockeford.

Things seemed to turn a corner over the summer, at least on the regulatory front, which could help propel Prime Air.

In July Cassidy asked the FAA to allow Amazon to fly drones out of sight of a “visual observer,” or an employee who keeps an eye on the drone while it’s in flight to make sure it avoids hazards.

In the memo, Cassidy pointed out that Prime Air had spent years developing a “detect-and-avoid” system for its MK27-2 drone, which allows the vehicle to steer clear of aircraft, people and pets, as well as static objects such as chimneys, eliminating the need for visual observers.

On Oct. 23, the FAA granted Amazon’s request and loosened restrictions on where it can operate drones, permitting it to fly over roadways and cars when necessary to complete a route. Flying over roadways was one of the FAA’s prior contentions.

Some restrictions remain in place, such as rules prohibiting drones from flying over open-air groups of people, and schools during times of operation.

Less than three weeks after the approval, a drone crashed at Amazon’s test site in Pendleton, Ore., with the technology sustaining “substantial” damage during the incident. No one was injured, and there were no fires or explosions at the site. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.

This marked the second such incident this year. In June, a drone was destroyed during an emergency landing at the same test location.

In the wake of October’s FAA approval, Amazon is pushing its drone delivery projects forward. In October, it said it would bring the drones to a third undisclosed U.S. location, as well as the U.K. and Italy, by late 2024. The company also said it plans to integrate the drones deeper into its fulfillment network, deploying them in some same-day delivery centers.

“These sites offer a selection of products that are well aligned with things customers want and need fast, and what drones can safely deliver,” a blog post on the announcement said. “Think of products that fit the size and weight capabilities of the drone—like cold medicines and batteries—we place them close to customers at these sites, which enables us to deliver them at our fastest speeds, and now it makes sense to make deliveries even faster via drones.”

Amazon continues innovating on drone technology, this year launching the MK30 drone design, which can fly twice as far as previous models and is quieter, smaller and lighter. The company says the MK30 can fly in more diverse weather conditions so customers can get faster deliveries in situations like light rain, and hotter and colder temperatures.