DoorDash Launches All-Day Drone Delivery in Dallas-Fort Worth
Following a successful pilot, DoorDash and Flytrex have launched drone delivery service in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Customers in parts of Little Elm and Frisco, Texas, can now order food from dozens of local and national restaurants, between 8:00 a.m. and 9:30 p.m., with delivery by Flytrex’s autonomous drone fleet.
The launch marks Flytrex’s first third-party app integration, allowing customers to place orders directly through the DoorDash app. Eligible customers can choose drone delivery when checking out, with orders prepared at restaurants and flown to their homes. The service currently reaches more than 30,000 households and 100,000-plus residents, with additional sites in the area launching in the near future.
According to DoorDash, it now offers the region’s most expansive drone operating hours and the highest payload capacity. Flytrex drones can carry as much as 6.6 pounds — the largest amount in the area — and next-generation models will boost capacity to 8.8 pounds.
“The next phase of drone delivery is all about convenience, driven by expanded capabilities that unlock a broader range of use cases,” noted Harrison Shih, head of product at DoorDash Labs, the San Francisco-based company’s robotics and automation division. “Larger payloads and longer operating hours allow us to serve more customers, more efficiently, than ever before. By expanding the operational envelope of autonomous delivery, we’re moving closer to making drone delivery a scalable, reliable option for everyday local commerce.”
“Drone delivery offers suburban families exactly what they’re looking for: speed, affordability and convenience,” said Yariv Bash, CEO and co-founder of Tel Aviv-based Flytrex. “Your food arrives hot or cold, as intended, and you get contactless delivery right to your backyard. For busy families juggling work and activities, it’s a game-changer that fits perfectly into your daily routine.”
The pilot program completed more than 1,000 deliveries, demonstrating sufficiently strong consumer adoption and satisfaction to merit the expansion of service. To accommodate the deliveries, neighborhoods have established drop-off points at public and communal locations throughout the coverage area. Flytrex has additionally implemented advanced drone traffic control technology, enabling various drone operators to serve overlapping communities while safely managing flight paths via automated systems, a move that broadens suburban coverage.
As well as Flytrex, DoorDash remains dedicated to building a multi-modal delivery platform through strategic partnerships with such autonomous technology providers as Wing for drone delivery and Coco Robotics for sidewalk robot delivery. “We believe the multi-modal approach is the winning strategy for DoorDash to match each order with the most efficient delivery method, combining the Dasher network with innovative autonomous options like drones to ensure the fastest, most efficient and sustainable delivery possible,” the company noted.
