Drone Delivery Signs Up Restaurant Chains and Builds Local Factories
· TexaHub · Drones, AI in Industry, Technology Trends
Wing, Zipline, Flytrex, Matternet and Amazon all expanded in May, as operators chase restaurant volume and lower unit costs ahead of the FAA's BVLOS rule.
Restaurants take to the air
Papa Johns has started drone delivery with Wing, Alphabet's delivery company, from a single franchise in Indian Trail, North Carolina, outside Charlotte [1]. The menu is limited to three sandwiches, not pizza [1]. Wing chief executive Adam Woodworth told WIRED that the company's drones carry three specific package sizes and that pizza boxes are not one of them, though a new design is coming [1]. Restaurant Dive reported that this is Wing's first direct partnership with a national quick-service chain, and that Wing's network plugs into Papa Johns' own app and its Google Cloud-powered ordering assistant [2].
Papa Johns' chief digital and technology officer, Kevin Vasconi, said the chain has "an internal business case that pencils out" and hopes eventually to offer the full menu [1]. WIRED reported that Wing is delivering in four metro areas: Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston [1].
In North Texas, Taco Bueno began delivering with Zipline to residents within three miles of a restaurant in Watauga, with Frisco and Mesquite to follow by the end of May and six to seven more stores planned before the end of 2026 [4].
Bigger payloads, local factories
Flytrex, an Israel-based operator, has gone after the pizza problem directly. Its Sky2 drone carries up to 8.8 pounds over about four miles, enough for two large pizzas, and is flying them for Little Caesars in Wylie, Texas [1]. The company says the drone has been delivering pizzas in Texas for about five months, with an average of 4.5 minutes from takeoff to drop-off [1]. Co-founder Amit Regev told WIRED that the economics depend on using restaurant staff rather than dedicated drone crews, adding: "We spend a lot of time on Excel sheets" [1].
Flytrex has now opened a manufacturing and maintenance facility of nearly 8,000 square feet in Pilot Point, Texas [3]. DroneDJ reported that the company expects the site to employ about 50 people and build roughly 1,000 drones a year, and that Flytrex wants 60 delivery sites across Dallas-Fort Worth by mid-2027, potentially reaching about five million residents [3]. Flytrex says it has completed more than 200,000 deliveries [3]. Regev described the region as the company's "proving ground" [3].
Matternet, meanwhile, said that silicon-anode cells from Amprius now power its M2 drones and that the two companies will develop batteries for its next platform [5]. Amprius says its cells can deliver up to twice the energy density of graphite-based lithium-ion batteries, and it is targeting production readiness aligned with Matternet's planned fleet expansion from early 2027 [5]. "Every additional mile of range expands our network coverage," said Matternet chief executive Andreas Raptopoulos [5].
Amazon keeps adding sites
Amazon is extending Prime Air one market at a time. DroneXL reported that Baton Rouge, Louisiana, will get service this summer with 12 to 20 MK30 drones flying packages of up to five pounds within a 7.5-mile radius [7]. In Connecticut, North Haven's planning and zoning commission approved Amazon's application to run drone deliveries from its sorting centre there, though Federal Aviation Administration approval is still required [8]. Amazon said it was "working with local officials" to reach customers in the greater New Haven area [8]. Amazon economic development manager Sam Bailey said the drones can sense people or pets at the drop point and abort, and carry no surveillance cameras [8]. CT Insider reported that Prime Air drones fly 200 to 400 feet above ground and generate a little over 60 decibels during takeoff and landing [8].
The rollout has not been smooth. DroneXL listed MK30 incidents including two drones striking the same construction crane in Arizona in October 2025 and a collision with an apartment building in Richardson, Texas, in February 2026 [7]. It reported that Prime Air had logged roughly 16,000 US deliveries as of February 2026, against Amazon's stated goal of 500 million a year by 2030 [7].
Waiting for Part 108
Much of this expansion is a bet on rules that are not yet final. Raptopoulos told Aviation Week that changes expected this year under the FAA's proposed Part 108 rule for beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations will speed up investment, and called 2026 "an inflection year for drones in the U.S." [6]. He estimated US drone delivery activity at roughly 3,000 to 5,000 deliveries a day across the industry [6]. Matternet says its automation allows one operator to supervise up to 20 aircraft [6]. The company recently began carrying diagnostic samples and pharmaceuticals between hospital campuses in central London for the National Health Service with partner Apian, and delivers meals for Dave's Hot Chicken in California [6]. Raptopoulos argued that healthcare offers stronger unit economics than low-margin consumer orders, but that consumer delivery will eventually be the largest segment [6].
Matternet is also taking a different regulatory route from most rivals: it remains the only drone delivery company with FAA type certification for its delivery drone, the M2, as well as a production certificate, Aviation Week reported [6].
Taken together, the month's announcements point to where operators think the money is. Restaurant partnerships supply repeat, time-sensitive orders; local assembly and better batteries attack cost per delivery; and certification or rule changes determine how many aircraft one person can run. None of the companies has published per-delivery costs, so whether these networks are profitable at current volumes remains unclear. The industry-wide daily figure Matternet cites is still small next to the volumes Amazon has set as its target.
Sources
[1] Papa Johns Is Getting Into Drone Delivery—but Not for Pizza — WIRED, 11 May 2026
[2] Papa Johns to deliver sandwiches by air in North Carolina — Restaurant Dive, 12 May 2026
[3] Drone delivery company Flytrex expands with new Texas factory — DroneDJ, 21 May 2026
[4] American QSR brand Taco Bueno partners with Zipline on launch of drone delivery service in North Texas — Retail Technology Innovation Hub, 18 May 2026
[5] Amprius and Matternet Expand Drone Delivery Battery Partnership — DRONELIFE, 20 May 2026
[6] Matternet Eyes Drone Delivery Scale-Up As BVLOS Rules Near — Aviation Week, 21 May 2026
[7] Amazon Prime Air Picks Baton Rouge For Summer MK30 Drone Delivery Launch — DroneXL, 19 May 2026
[8] Amazon drone delivery is coming to Connecticut, if FAA signs off — CT Insider, 18 May 2026