- The Federal Aviation Administration has granted Uber and San Diego, California, permission to test food delivery via drone services
- Uber partnered with McDonald’s and completed the first phase of testing at San Diego State University
- Uber made this announcement after Amazon announced similar plans to commence drone delivery services
Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER) has completed its initial phase testing for food delivery via drones for Uber Eats (http://ibn.fm/cx2J3), at San Diego State University. This testing was done in collaboration with McDonald’s, after the Federal Aviation Administration granted Uber the drone testing rights. Uber plans to include other Uber Eats food and delivery partners in the future while leveraging the expertise and technology of Uber Elevate.
Uber Eats will use drone services for only a part of the delivery journey. Once the food is prepared as per the order placed by the customer, it will be loaded in the drone. The drone will then carry the food to a predetermined central location, from where manual deliveries will be done. Meanwhile, Uber’s Elevate Cloud Systems will monitor and guide the drones, as well as informing Uber Eats delivery drivers of the delivery points and times of food deliveries. This point of landing is likely to be the rooftop of an Uber vehicle. The delivery person will then collect and hand-deliver the food at the notified address.
In a statement released by Uber, Luke Ficher, Uber Elevate’s head of flight operations, said that the company was complying with the strict regulations and safety measures detailed by the FAA. He further stated that Uber envisions providing Uber Eats services to a greater number of people in a safe and convenient manner.
Using drone services for food delivery indicates that Uber intends to implement mammoth expansion plans. Eats is one of the most profitable ventures of Uber, recording gross booking growth of 108 percent to $3.07 billion in Q1 2019 (http://ibn.fm/lNXfL). Uber envisages extending Uber Eats services in densely populated urban areas where doorstep delivery is not feasible. With the huge network of Uber Eats delivery and restaurant partners and Uber Elevate technology, Uber is uniquely positioned to take on this challenging role.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Uber.com
