By: Rhett Uleman
Look up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no, it’s a… drone? This past summer, Amazon rolled out their “Prime Air” delivery drones from their fulfillment center in Papillion off Highway 370. These drones are capable of flying packages of up to five pounds to customers within a 7 and-a-half- mile radius. According to the FAA application made by Amazon in June and approved in September, their drones weigh roughly 78 pounds, and can fly at a maximum cruise speed of 73 miles-per-hour.
While it may be true that Amazon’s delivery drones are providing a new level of swift convenience, homeowners in quiet papillon neighborhoods are expressing a variety of concerns.
Homeowner Nathan Vanderwyst emailed his concerns regarding noise, privacy and environmental preservation to the FAA and local representatives, with a notable response coming from state senator John Arch,
“John Arch was the only one that really said there was like a path to do something about it through basically decibel noise ordinance, right? The other representatives just said it’s under the control of the FAA, they can’t do anything. I’m like,‘I think you can.’”
There are other community members who are warmer to the idea, like Papillion Police Lt. Kurt McClannan, who says he lives very close to the fulfillment center and consistently sees drones en route.
“To me what that reflects is that there’s a call for this in the public, There’s certainly people that want this, but obviously there are people that are troubled by it ”
While the Papillion community is one of the first to receive this new technology, according to Amazon, prime air plans to serve nearly 500 cities and towns with their “ultrafast drone delivery” by the end of 2026.
Prime Air drones are designed to withstand light rain and snow but it remains to be seen how much air time these flying machines see in the coming winter months.
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