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Cheddi Skeete, outside a drone-testing facility in Pendleton, Oregon, said he was fired for raising safety concerns.

Cheddi Skeete, outside a drone-testing facility in Pendleton, Oregon, said he was fired for raising safety concerns.

Photographer: Spencer Soper/Bloomberg

Technology
The Big Take

Amazon Drone Crashes Hit Jeff Bezos’ Delivery Dreams

Billions of dollars and a decade later, and Amazon’s delivery by drone program still isn’t off the ground.

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Jeff Bezos went on 60 Minutes in 2013 and pledged to fill the skies with a fleet of delivery drones that could zip parcels to customers’ homes in 30 minutes. Asked when this future would arrive, the Amazon.com Inc. founder said he expected drone deliveries to commence in the next five years or thereabouts.

Almost a decade later, despite spending more than $2 billion and assembling a team of more than 1,000 people around the world, Amazon is a long way from launching a drone delivery service. 

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