Pigs will fly: Uber Eats to trial drone delivery

Flying pigs may soon be on their way to some US households, after rideshare and food delivery behemoth Uber teamed with drone operator Flytrex for food delivery services.

Uber announced the alliance on Thursday and said it expects to commence aerial food deliveries “in Uber Eats pilot markets in the U.S. by the end of the year.”

Flytrex currently operates in North Carolina, Texas, “and other approved locations,” and has already made over 200,000 flying food deliveries. The company says its drones can fly without human control, but all are “operated by FAA-certified remote pilots who monitor every flight from our operations center” and are “ready to take manual control if needed.” Flytrex’s six-rotor craft fly at up to 32 mph (51 km/h) and “typically complete deliveries in under five minutes from takeoff to drop-off.”

A 2023 Flytrex video shows its drones lowering a hook to ...