Delivery drones may soon take off in the US. Here's why

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 United States. More than six years after the Federal Aviation Administration approved commercial home deliveries with drones, the service mostly has been confined to a few suburbs and rural areas.

That could soon change. 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. A handful of companies do that now, but they had to obtain waivers and certification as an air carrier to deliver packages.

While the rule is intended to streamline the process, 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 U.S. households.

Walmart and Wing, a drone company owned by Google parent Alphabet, currently provide deliveries from 18 Walmart stores in the Dallas area. By next summer, they expect to expand to 100 Walmart stores in Atlanta; Charlotte, North Carolina; Houston; and Orlando and Tampa, Florida.

After launching its Prime Air delivery service in College Station, Texas, in late 2022, Amazon received FAA permission last year to operate autonomous drones that fly beyond a pilot's line of sight. The e-commerce company has since expand its drone delivery program to suburban Phoenix and has plans to offer the service in Dallas, San Antonio, Texas, and Kansas City.

The concept of drone delivery has been around for well over a decade. Drone maker Zipline, which works with Walmart in Arkansas and the Dallas-Fort Worth area, 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.

But Wing CEO Adam Woodworth said drone delivery has been in “treading water mode” in the U.S. for years, with service providers afraid to scale up because the regulatory framework wasn’t in place.

“You want to be at the right moment where there’s an overlap between the customer demand, the partner demand, the technical readiness and the regulatory readiness,” Woodworth said. “I think that we’re reaching that planetary alignment right now.”

DoorDash, which works with both Wing and Flytrex, tested drone drop-offs in rural Virginia and greater Dallas before announcing an expansion into Charlotte. Getting takeout food this way may sound futuristic, but it's starting to feel normal in suburban Brisbane, Australia, where DoorDash has employed delivery drones for several years, said Harrison Shih, who leads the company's drone program.

“It comes so fast and it's something flying into your neighborhood, but it really does seem like part of everyday life,” Shih said.

Even though delivery drones are still considered novel, the cargo they carry can be pretty mundane. Walmart said the top items from the more than 150,000 drone deliveries the nation's largest retailer has completed since 2021 include ice cream, eggs and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

Unlike traditional delivery, where one driver may have a truck full of packages, drones generally deliver one small order at a time. Wing’s drones can carry packages weighing up to 2.5 pounds. They 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 heavier packages.

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 to the ground with retractable cords.

Shakiba Enayati, an assistant professor of supply chain and analytics at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, researches ways that drones could speed the delivery of critical health supplies like donated organs and blood samples. The unmanned aircraft offer some advantages as a transport method, such as reduced emissions and improved access to goods for rural residents, Enayati said.

But she also sees plenty of obstacles. Right now, it costs around $13.50 per delivery to carry a package by drone versus $2 for a traditional vehicle, Enayati said. Drones need well-trained employees to oversee them and can have a hard time in certain weather.

Drones also can have mid-air collisions or tumble from the sky. But people have accepted the risk of road accidents because they know the advantages of driving, Enayati said. She thinks the same thing could happen with drones, especially as improved technology reduces the chance for errors.

Woodworth added that U.S. airspace is tightly controlled, and companies need to demonstrate to the FAA that their drones are safe and reliable before they are cleared to fly. Even under the proposed new rules, the FAA would set detailed requirements for drone operators.

“That’s why it takes so long to build a business in the space. But I think it leads to everybody fundamentally building higher quality things,” Woodworth said.

Others worry that drones may potentially replace human delivery drivers. Shih thinks that’s unlikely. One of DoorDash's most popular items is 24-packs of water, Shih said, which aren't realistic for existing drones to ferry.

“I believe that drone delivery can be fairly ubiquitous and can cover a lot of things. We just don't think its probable today that it’ll carry a 40-pound bag of dog food to you," Shih said.

DoorDash said that in the areas where it offers drone deliveries, orders requiring the services of human delivery drivers also increase.

That’s been the experience of John Kim, the owner of PurePoke restaurant in Frisco, Texas. Kim signed on to offer drone deliveries through DoorDash last year. He doesn’t know what percentage of his DoorDash customers are choosing the service instead of regular delivery, but his overall DoorDash orders are up 15% this year.

Kim said he’s heard no complaints from drone delivery customers.

“It’s very stable, maybe even better than some of the drivers that toss it in the back with all the other orders,” Kim said.

For some, drones can simply be a nuisance. When the FAA asked for public comments on Amazon’s request to expand deliveries in College Station, numerous residents expressed concern that drones with cameras violated their privacy. Amazon says its drones use cameras and sensors to navigate and avoid obstacles but may record overhead videos of people while completing a delivery.

Other residents complained about noise.

“It sounds like a giant nagging mosquito,” one respondent wrote. Amazon has since released a quieter drone.

But others love the service. Janet Toth of Frisco, Texas, said she saw drone deliveries in Korea years ago and wondered why the U.S. didn’t have them. So she was thrilled when DoorDash began providing drone delivery in her neighborhood.

Toth now orders drone delivery a few times a month. Her 9-year-old daughter Julep said friends often come over to watch the drone.

“I love to go outside, wave at the drone, say ‘Thank you’ and get the food,” Julep Toth said.

AP Video Journalist Kendria LaFleur contributed from Frisco, Texas.

julep Toth, 9, carries a package delivered to her house via a drone, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Frisco, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Julep Toth, 9, waits for a drone to drop off a delivery at her house, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Frisco, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

A drone, left, lands at a helipad as another lifts off with a DoorDash order, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Frisco, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Julep Toth, 9, waves at a drone as it arrives at her house with a delivery, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Frisco, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Janet Toth, left, and her daughter, Julep Toth, 9, open a delivery package after ordering a sandwich to their home Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Frisco, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

A drone flies over a neighborhood as it arrives at a home with a delivery, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Frisco, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Janet Toth selects a drone delivery option while placing an order through the DoorDash application on a phone Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Frisco, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Julep Toth, 9, looks at a drone as it arrives at her house with a delivery, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Frisco, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Masslie Arias, of DoorDash, prepares to load a delivery package on a hovering drone Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Frisco, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Libya on Saturday held a military funeral for the western Libya’s military chief and four of his officers who died in a plane crash in Turkey.

The bodies arrived at Tripoli International Airport in caskets draped with Libyan flags and were carried in a funeral procession with soldiers holding their photographs.

The private jet with Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad, four other military officers and three crew members crashed on Tuesday after taking off from Ankara, Turkey’s capital, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane but the investigation is still ongoing in coordination with Turkey.

Libya plunged into chaos after the country’s 2011 uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The country split, with rival administrations in the east and west, each backed by armed groups and foreign governments. The country is governed by Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah's government in Tripoli and the administration of Prime Minister Ossama Hammad in the east.

Dbeibah praised al-Haddad during a funeral speech for organizing the military “despite overwhelming darkness and outlaw groups.”

Al-Haddad played a crucial role in the ongoing, U.N.-brokered efforts to unify Libya’s military, which has split, much like Libya’s institutions.

“Our martyrs weren’t just military leaders but also statesmen who were wise and disciplined and carried responsibility and believed that the national Libyan army is the country’s shield and ... that building institutions is the real path toward a stable and secure Libya,” Dbeibah said.

The burial will take place in Misrata, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) east of Tripoli, officials said.

The crash happened as the delegation was on its way back to Tripoli after defense talks in Ankara aimed at boosting military cooperation.

A funeral ceremony was also held at Murted airfield base near Ankara, attended by the Turkish military chief and the defense minister.

Military chief Gen. Selcuk Bayraktaroglu also accompanied the bodies on the plane to Libya, Turkish public broadcaster TRT reported.

Turkey has been the main backer of Libya’s government in the west, but has recently taken steps to improve ties with the eastern-based government.

FILE - Libya's army chief of staff Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad poses for a photo in Tripoli, Libya, Oct. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Yousef Murad, File)

FILE - Libya's army chief of staff Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad poses for a photo in Tripoli, Libya, Oct. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Yousef Murad, File)