Uber Eats Testing Flying Meal Deliveries by Drone Again This Year (www.cnet.com)

Uber Eats announced it will pilot drone food deliveries later this year through a partnership and equity investment with Flytrex, an autonomous drone delivery company. The service will launch in select U.S. markets (exact dates and locations TBD) and aims to deliver orders “in minutes” while reducing congestion and emissions. Uber says customers won’t pay more for drone delivery than for a courier, and Flytrex — which has already completed over 200,000 suburban meal deliveries and works with DoorDash and Walmart — will provide the aircraft and operational know‑how. The move is significant because it brings a major consumer platform into scaled last‑mile aerial logistics and leans on Flytrex’s FAA authorization for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations — a key regulatory milestone that allows pilots to operate drones they can’t always see. Practical implications include faster, lower‑emission deliveries for low‑weight suburban routes, integration challenges around airspace deconfliction, payload/range limits, safety and noise concerns, and the need for robust routing and monitoring systems. Uber’s renewed push follows earlier, limited attempts (Uber Elevate and a VTOL unmanned system) and signals growing commercial maturity for drone delivery if regulatory, operational and urban integration hurdles can be managed.