James McDanolds, program chair at the School of Uncrewed Technology at Sonoran Desert Institute, discusses the current use, level of technology, practical limitations and future of drones for food and beverage delivery.

Drone delivery is in regular use among some fast-food operations, as well as grocery stories filling small online orders. There’s also some progress in operations delivering larger items, even though there are weight issues to consider, McDanolds says.

Drones remain limited in where they can operate by building design. Homes with backyards are obvious candidates for drone delivery, but shoppers living in apartment complexes must have access to a common patio or concierge service.

There are also issues of efficiency to consider. A restaurant juggling multiple orders can’t keep dozens of drones on hand to fill a rush of orders. Nor do customers want to wait while a limited fleet of drones is having to make repeated trips back to the restaurant to pick up each order. On the other hand, McDanolds says, drones can be more efficient than cars when it comes to delivering single small orders.

Drones must comply with strict safety rules maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration. In the technology’s early days, the agency required that drone operators retain visual line of sight to the craft, which severely limited their range. Subsequently, FAA began issuing waivers to drones that were deemed safe to operate, and permission have since been extended to regular operations that continue to stay within safety guidelines. The same goes for drones operating at night.

McDanolds acknowledges that drone usage could be curtailed by public nervousness about the origin and purpose of the devices, as well as concerns over their safe use in busy air corridors.

Nevertheless, he believes that drones will play an important role in food and beverage delivery in the years ahead, as FAA waivers become incorporated into standard rulesets. “It’s not a matter of if,” he says. “It’s a matter of when.”