Amazon starts Prime Air drone delivery in Nampa, its first site in Idaho

Amazon began Prime Air drone delivery in Nampa, Idaho, on Friday, October 30. The company contacted KTVB that day to say the service was live, and Idaho News 6 (KIVI) and KBOI also reported the launch. Idaho News 6 said it started for "select customers and areas within Nampa." KTVB reports that Nampa is the first city in Idaho to get Prime Air. Amazon's August 19 expansion announcement named the Boise metro area as a planned launch. As of November 3, that article still lists 11 active sites in 10 metro areas. It has not added Nampa, or the Cleveland and Chicago sites that local outlets reported in September and October.

KTVB reports that federal regulators studied how the Nampa flights could affect noise, scenery, and wildlife before launch, with input from agencies including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The FAA's drone environmental review page, last updated October 14, lists no document for Idaho when we checked it on November 3. The FAA says it intends to use its July 28 nationwide assessment for delivery operations that stay inside its limits. It also says it may still require a site-specific review where more analysis is needed. Fifteen states have asked the Second Circuit to set that assessment aside. Amazon says Prime Air holds FAA Part 135 certification, the framework used for commercial air carriers.