BATON ROUGE - Amazon’s primary operations director in Baton Rouge addressed residents' concerns about noise from drone delivery, saying  Prime Air is quieter than a delivery truck idling outside a door. 

Tyra Jones spoke at the Rotary Club meeting on Wednesday to brief attendees on the Prime Air operation, including that the project has reduced its noise pollution by 50 percent. She also said Amazon has a newer, quieter model in the works.

"One day, seeing a Prime Air drone in the sky will be like seeing a delivery van on the road," Jones said. 

Jones added that the noise is minimal because drones are near homes for around 30 seconds while making a delivery. 

She said drivers’ jobs have not been lost and the drones only deliver things weighing less than five pounds, meaning all other products still need traditional delivery methods. 

Jones said that the drones have cameras and sensors, but are not monitored during flight by a human. 

She said there are job openings at Amazon for people who inspect drones before they take off with products.