Zipline wants up to 65,000 drone deliveries a day in Phoenix and in Tucson, and the FAA is taking comments
The FAA's draft environmental assessment covers the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas, with flights 24 hours a day. The draft says comments must arrive by 5 p.m. Central Time on December 7. The FAA's web page says December 9.
By Joel Kelly
More onDrone delivery
Read the FAA draft and how to comment by Dec 7
Decision brief
If you live in the Phoenix or Tucson area, this is the stage where your comment goes into the record. The FAA's two documents give different closing dates, so a comment the FAA receives by 5 p.m. Central Time on December 7 meets both. The FAA also says delivery operators may need local government approvals for their sites, so local government can be a second place to be heard.
- Comments due
- Dec. 7, 5 p.m. CT
- Metros
- 2
- Daily maximum
- 65,000
The date in the draft's notice. The FAA web page says December 9. Email 9-FAA-Drone-Environmental@faa.gov, subject: Zipline Arizona Draft EA
Phoenix and Tucson
Deliveries per day in each metro area
What the FAA is reviewing
Two metros, up to 1,300 pickup kiosks in each, flights around the clock.
Zipline is seeking FAA approval for commercial package delivery in two Arizona metropolitan areas, Phoenix and Tucson. The FAA has posted a draft environmental assessment, dated November 2026, for a 30-day public review. The notice inside the draft says the review runs from Friday, November 6, to Monday, December 7, 2026. It says all comments must be received by 5:00 p.m. Central Time on December 7. The FAA's web page for the draft asks for comments by December 9. Comments go by email to 9-FAA-Drone-Environmental@faa.gov, and the FAA page asks for Zipline Arizona Draft EA in the subject line. The draft also gives a mailing address.
The proposal gives each metro area a maximum of 65 Zipline Chargers and 1,300 Dropboxes, which are pickup kiosks, with up to 65,000 deliveries per day. The operating areas cover about 1,540 square miles around Phoenix and about 554 around Tucson. Each Charger could hold up to 72 docks, though the draft says a typical one would have 36. Each could launch up to 1,000 deliveries a day. Chargers and Dropboxes would sit in established commercial areas such as retail stores and warehouses, where local zoning allows them. The draft says Zipline would need more environmental review to go past those maximums.
The aircraft and the noise review
An aircraft of about 63 pounds at 330 feet, mostly in the daytime.
Zipline proposes flying 24 hours a day, every day, with its Platform 2 aircraft. The draft puts its weight at about 63 pounds with a maximum payload of 8 pounds. About 95 percent of flights would take place between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., and about 5 percent overnight. The aircraft would generally fly at 330 feet above the ground at a typical cruise speed of 70 mph. It would hover at about that height while it lowers a pod on a winch line to pick up or deliver a package. The draft says the aircraft can fly up to 20 miles between charges.
On noise, the draft says each Charger and Dropbox would be set back from noise-sensitive areas. Its example is a Charger with the maximum 1,000 deliveries a day, which would be placed at least 170 feet away. The draft concludes there would be no significant noise impacts from Charger or Dropbox operations. Zipline prepared the draft under the FAA's supervision. The approval at issue is an amendment to the operations specifications under Zipline's Part 135 air carrier certificate. The notice says all substantive comments will get a response in the final assessment.
Source file
Verify the reporting
Continue on Drone Authority
Put the report to work
Continue this beat
More commercial reporting
Rule watch · October 4, 2026
Zipline wants up to 65,000 drone deliveries a day in each of five Texas metros, and the FAA is taking comments until October 11
Industry · November 10, 2026
FAA authorizes Skyways to fly a drone beyond visual line of sight from Louisiana to a Shell platform in the Gulf
Industry · November 6, 2026