Tallahassee will soon be one of only two cities in Florida to see Amazon delivery drones taking flight – at least for now. The company rolled out the “Prime Blue” carpet for residents to learn more about the 70-pound, MK 30 model drones during a community meet-and-and greet, of sorts.
It’s not like drones that can purchased at a store or online retailer, including Amazon. It has six propellers and is about the size of a small kitchen table, much larger than many attendees expected.
First look at Prime Air, Amazon drone delivery system
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A MK-30 drone is displayed for community members to get an up close look at how Amazon will be delivering packages with the Prime Air drone delivery service Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat)
“It’s huge,” said 9-year-old Landen McKervey, with awe and excitement. “I’ve seen drones before. I own multiple (ones) but never this big … I was expecting it to be maybe two by three feet.”
He inspected the machine, with his mom Kayla McKervey at his side. She took pictures of him and another child, as they happily posed. For them, the cool factor was a 10 out of 10.
His mom, too, wasn’t expecting it to be as big as it is and said she’d be “little scared if it landed in my yard,” with a chuckle. Landen jokingly confessed he’d sit on it if it landed in his yard, knowing that’s not an option. Kayla McKervey said her son can’t wait to order something.
“Maybe we’ll have a party to wait in the yard and have, maybe a birthday present, shipped in,” she said, turning to her son. “Your birthday gift could be delivered by drone.”
While, for them, the cool factor was high, McKervey also said she liked the idea of ordering items she often needs and getting them fast. During the event, a display case showed examples of products that could be ordered and received in 30 minutes. A box of crayons, thermometer, cough medicine, wipes, markers, batteries.
“There’s definitely things I like,” she said, looking at the display. “I see a thermometer there. Every time my kid is sick, the thermometer is missing.”
Amazon official: ‘A good opportunity for us to expand here’
All items must be small enough to fit in a shoebox-sized package and be readily available at Amazon’s fulfillment center on Mahan Drive, which has more than three million eligible items.
Josh Brundage, senior manager of commercial operations at Prime Air, said the premium delivery service will be $4.99 in Tallahassee (cost varies in other markets and can be free depending on the city). The service is an option; not mandatory when ordering.
He said the drone delivery service is slated to launch in the capital city by mid-November.
Josh Brundage, senior manager of commercial operations for Prime Air, details how the Amazon drone delivery service operates Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026.
“So we partner with existing (fulfillment centers) that have, you know, the room for us to be able to accommodate our operational needs,” Brundage said. “So Tallahassee, with the fulfillment center right here, is a really good opportunity for those things … all those kind of stars aligned, and so it was a good opportunity for us to expand here.”
For Tallahassee, the service will operate within a 7.5-mile radius of the fulfillment center. Longer distances are limited due to the battery technology. Brundage declined to offer details on the cost per drone or the infrastructure that will house the drone on site at the Tallahassee fulfillment center, which is still under permit review.
When asked about how Tallahassee’s high concentration of trees might impact deliveries, Brundage had an answer for that.
“We have a very good understanding of everything in that seven and a half mile circle,” he said. “So natural features, trees, everything else. When a customer goes on and they have a drone delivery, they’re actually given a Google Earth common satellite image type image of their property.”
Community members check out the the MK-30 drone that will be used for Prime Air deliveries from Amazon, Tuesday, October. 20, 2026. Residents can expect to see drones deliveries beginning in mid November.
From there, he said, the customer will receive multiple predetermined delivery points that the company has selected ahead of time based on what it feels “will be successful.” He said the company doesn’t want to be “super close to trees.”
The most common delivery drop-off sites are driveways and backyards, especially in an effort to reduce porch piracy issues, in which thieves make off with deliveries.
Amazon planning major expansion of its drone delivery service
Amazon has drones already in 15 markets nationwide. Ruskin is the only other Florida city with drone delivery options (serving the Tampa Bay area) for more than a year.
The company hopes to offer drone delivery service to 40 to 50 markets by the end of the year. The goal is to reach nearly 500 U.S. cities and towns by the end of 2026, according to a USA TODAY article last month.
According to the Democrat’s previous reporting, drone delivery service has caught national attention for a series of high-profile mishaps.
In one recent incident, captured on video in the Phoenix area and reported by The Arizona Republic, a Prime Air drone kicked up such a large cloud of dust while descending that it briefly turned a residential yard into what observers described as a mini dust storm, highlighting concerns about rotor wash in desert neighborhoods. Another video showed a delivery being dropped into a pool.
Brundage suggested such examples are outliers to a steady new, high-tech delivery service. Up to 21 drones will be a part of Tallahassee’s fleet of drones; up to 10 will be in the air at a time. When and if issues arise, he said the company can be “incredibly nimble.”
“We design the drone. We build the drone. We design the software. Everything is done in-house within Amazon. So the drones are completely manufactured in Seattle at the primary headquarters,” he said. “So when things do happen, when you know either a weather event happens or something happens with a drone, that’s an event that we want to make sure we can quickly adapt to and fix.
“We’re the only ones that have to do that, so we’re incredibly nimble. We can act really quickly when there have been issues about,” he continued. “We’ve been able to identify them almost in real time and and really kind of correct those issues as quickly as possible.”
As the sneak peek event continued, dozens of residents flowed in and got a close-up look at the drone. From children, college students, professionals and senior citizens, everyone in the room was curious. Quite curious.
Greg Preble, 70, said he’s used to his recreational drone that’s got a rectangle shape and flies like a helicopter.
“That thing looks like it’s going to fly like an airplane to me,” he said, noting the drone’s shape. He went on to say he’s OK with the drone service coming to Tallahassee.
“I know there’ll probably be some people that don’t like it,” said Preble, noting potential noise and other nuisance issues. “But, I think it’s cool. I don’t mind if they fly over my house.”
Contact Economic Development Reporter TaMaryn Waters at tlwaters@tallahassee.com and follow @TaMarynWaters on X.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Take off: Amazon Prime Air shows off drone delivery coming to Tallahassee