Uber's food delivery drones could launch 'as soon as 2021'

Hannah Boland
Updated
Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi said the company 'can’t just be about cars' - Getty Images North America
Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi said the company 'can’t just be about cars' - Getty Images North America

Uber could launch its food delivery drones as soon as 2021, in a move which would further diversify the company away from its core ride-hailing business. 

Uber had posted a job advert for a drone expert to "enable safe, legal, efficient and scaleable flight operations", and to make the delivery drones commercially operational in three years time. 

The report, first revealed in The Wall Street Journal, comes five months after the US Transportation Department approved a commercial test program for drones, pulling together a host of companies including Uber and local governments to work together on the devices. 

Speaking in May, chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said the company was working on drones which could deliver food to customers' doorsteps within five to 30 minutes of ordering.

“Uber can’t just be about cars,” Mr Khosrowshahi said at the time. “It has to be about mobility. It’s my personal belief that a key to solving urban mobility is flying burgers, in any city. We need flying burgers.”

Uber had removed the job advert by Monday morning, and did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It said the advert "does not fully reflect our program, which is still in very early days". 

Uber's push into drone technology is just one way the company is seeking to show it has more to offer than its taxi business, as it readies for an initial public offering next year.

The company has also been testing driverless vehicles over recent years, and on Wednesday announced it was entering the trailer leasing market. Reports emerged last week that Uber was also considering a new short-term staffing business, to be called Uber Works.

Writing on Twitter, Mike Ramsey, from Gartner, said the "ad on businesses are why Uber gets a huge valuation". 

 “Amazon started with books. I’m not sure Uber can be Amazon, but the notion applies.”

Uber is expected to land a valuation of up to $120bn (£92bn) when it goes public next year, which would be almost double the price-tag it landed in August, despite the company not yet being profitable.