Amazon Prime Air's director of safety, flight operations, and regulatory affairs has reportedly departed the company, leaving them with no liaison with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
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Amazon Loses Primary Liason to FAA
In 2015, Amazon hired Sean Cassidy, a former Alaska Airlines pilot and vice president for the world's largest pilots union. He was tasked to oversee any strategic partnerships in the drone delivery program.
During his stay, Cassidy was responsible for the company's relations with the FAA as they developed the drone delivery program. The drone was one of the projects of Jeff Bezos, who dreamt of dropping packages on customers' doorstep through drones.
"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 on an internal memo.
Development on Amazon Prime Air
Previously, Amazon announced that the drone delivery program would be expanding to Italy, the U.K., and another city in the U.S. by 2024. Once operational, eligible customers will have the drone option as long as the item fits the weight limit.
Meanwhile, an incident from November logged a crash at Amazon's drone test site in Pendleton, Oregon. The drone got "substantial" damage during the accident, but there were no other casualties. The National Transportation Safety Board is already conducting a class 4 investigation into the incident.
Amazon has promised that the company will work closely with regulators and governments globally for the expansion of the drone delivery program. For now, customers would have to wait until 2024 to see if the company will push through its promise.
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