Residents in a North Texas suburb are raising concerns about noise levels from Amazon’s autonomous drone delivery service.
“It’s constant — it’s like a beehive up there right over our house,” a Richardson resident told NBC’s TODAY show.
Amazon began its Prime Air drone delivery service in Richardson in December 2025 after city officials gave the company zoning approval to begin operations. Amazon says Prime members can receive eligible packages weighing up to five pounds in as little as 30 minutes. Prime members receive free drone delivery on orders of $50 or more, while orders under $50 cost $2.99 for Prime members and $4.99 for non-Prime customers. Most orders arrive in about 60 minutes, according to Amazon.
The drones operate out of Amazon’s Richardson hub off Research Drive and serve customers within a roughly 7.5-mile radius.
While Amazon touts the fast, convenient, and energy efficient delivery service, residents in the direct pathway of the drones are upset about the noise levels caused by the high-frequency deliveries.
One resident, Stephanie Puri, who lives along a drone flight path, has set up a drone tracker. She recorded 52 drones flying overhead on what she described as a slow day, with three flying between 150 and 170 feet above her house, according to a report by the New York Times.
Beyond noise complaints, some residents have also raised privacy and safety concerns after a woman filmed a drone crash earlier this year in which a drone collided with an apartment building. Amazon said the crash was attributed to a GPS glitch and that it briefly paused high-rise deliveries.
The concerns have prompted a group of affected neighbors, who have dubbed themselves “drone warriors,” to mobilize against the technology. The group uses flight-tracking apps, and residents have begun monitoring overhead traffic. Residents are also urging local leaders to require the drones to fly at higher altitudes.
“They need to do a lot more research, they need to hold Amazon accountable, we need to have rules,” Richardson resident Scott Bratcher said on TODAY. “And if they don’t follow the rules, take away their toys, turn them off.”
However, Lindsay Hamilton, a spokeswoman for Amazon, told The New York Times that the customer response to the drone deliveries has been “overwhelmingly positive.” Hamilton also said that fewer than 1% of inquiries have been related to noise and compared the noise level to that of a window fan on a low setting.
Under city regulations, Amazon can operate its drone deliveries between 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.
Last month, Amazon announced that its Prime Air service would expand to nearly 500 U.S. cities and towns by the end of 2026.
The Federal Aviation Administration has also forecast that the number of registered drones in the United States could grow from roughly 897,000 to more than 3.5 million by 2030, according to recent reports citing the agency.
