'Giant Nagging Mosquitoes' May Soon Be Your DoorDasher

Proposed rule by FAA could open doors to mass drone deliveries instead of scattered exceptions
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 17, 2025 4:05 PM CDT
DoorDash Deliveries by Drone May Get Here Sooner
Julep Toth, 9, checks out a drone as it arrives at her house with a delivery on July 31 in Frisco, Texas.   (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Delivery drones are so fast they can zip a pint of ice cream to a customer's driveway before it melts. Yet the long-promised technology has been slow to take off in the US. More than six years after the Federal Aviation Administration approved commercial home deliveries via drones, the service mostly has been confined to a few suburbs and rural areas. That could soon change, however. The FAA proposed a new rule last week that would make it easier for companies to fly drones outside of an operator's line of sight and therefore over longer distances, per the AP. A handful of companies do that now, but had to obtain waivers and certification as an air carrier to deliver packages. Authorized retailers and drone companies that have tested fulfilling orders from the sky say they plan to make drone-based deliveries available to millions more US households.

  • History: Drone maker Zipline, which works with Walmart, began making deliveries to hospitals in Rwanda in 2016. Israel-based Flytrex, one of the drone companies DoorDash works with to carry out orders, launched drone delivery to households in Iceland in 2017. However, Adam Woodworth, CEO of Wing, a drone delivery service owned by Google parent Alphabet, said drone delivery has been in "treading water mode" in the US for years, with service providers afraid to scale up because the regulatory framework wasn't in place.

  • Capacity: Unlike traditional delivery, drones generally deliver one small order at a time. Wing's drones can carry packages weighing up to 2.5 pounds and can travel up to 12 miles round trip; one pilot can oversee up to 32 drones. Zipline has a drone that can carry up to 4 pounds and fly 120 miles round trip. Some drones, like Amazon's, can carry even heavier packages.
  • Process: Once an order is placed, it's packaged for flight and attached to a drone at a launch site. The drone automatically finds a route that avoids obstacles. A pilot observes as the aircraft flies to its destinations and lowers its cargo with retractable cords.
  • Pros: The unmanned aircraft offers reduced emissions and improved access to goods for rural residents.
  • Cons: University of Missouri-St. Louis supply chain instructor Shakiba Enayati says it costs around $13.50 per delivery to carry a package by drone versus $2 for a traditional vehicle, she notes. Plus, drones need well-trained employees to oversee them and can have a hard time in certain weather, and can also have midair collisions or fall from the sky. Others worry that drones may potentially replace human delivery drivers. The worst part for some? The noise can sound like a "giant nagging mosquito."
More here.

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