WSJ : Alphabet Pushes Out Leaders Of Drone-Delivery Project

(RTTNews) - Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL, GOOG) pushed out two managers on its drone-delivery project amid infighting on its team, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter.

Alphabet, Google's parent, has been developing delivery drones in its research arm since 2012 with the hopes of transforming logistics. But the drone project—dubbed Project Wing—has had a bumpy ride, with its original head departing in 2014.

Alphabet last month pushed out the project's chief, Dave Vos, and its top commercial executive, Sean Mullaney, in large part because of conflict between the group's engineers and its commercial team. It also issued notices to several other Project Wing workers, giving them 90 days to find other positions within Alphabet, the report said citing one former employee.

The engineering team wanted to delay to ensure the drones were reliable and safe, the person said. Some engineers also disagreed over the decision to deliver food to some faculty and students in a test at Virginia Tech in September. Some employees viewed the test as a publicity stunt, the report said.