Flytrex just got the go-ahead from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate drones beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), making it only the fourth US company to earn this coveted approval — joining Wing (Google), Amazon, and Zipline.
The milestone paves the way for Flytrex to bring its on-demand drone delivery service to 37 of the nation’s largest metro areas, covering more than 100 million Americans.
Until now, FAA rules required human observers on the ground to track each drone from takeoff to landing. That limited efficiency and kept costs high. BVLOS approval changes the game: Flytrex can now monitor multiple drones remotely from a single operations center, slashing expenses while boosting delivery volume.
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“After nearly a decade of development, this BVLOS approval transforms our entire business model,” says Yariv Bash, CEO and co-founder of Flytrex. “We can now outperform any other traditional on-demand delivery method, monitoring fleets from centralized command centers rather than posting observers across delivery zones.”
This achievement didn’t come overnight. Flytrex began working with the FAA in 2017, undergoing the same stringent safety checks used in manned aviation. That meant providing detailed safety data, logging thousands of flight hours, and proving its drones could safely share the skies with other aircraft.
Flytrex already has a strong footprint in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where it offers the region’s most extensive operating hours — 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. — and an impressive payload capacity. The company recently integrated its service into the DoorDash app, giving customers a seamless way to order aerial deliveries.
Earlier this year, Flytrex and Wing became the first commercial operators in the US to demonstrate automated flight coordination in shared airspace, showing multiple drone companies can safely operate in the same neighborhoods.
With BVLOS clearance secured, Flytrex plans to ramp up operations in Dallas, adding dozens of new sites by year’s end and aiming for full metro coverage within 12 months. From there, the company is setting its sights on nationwide rollout.
As Bash sees it, this isn’t just an expansion for Flytrex. It’s the beginning of drone delivery as an everyday service, not just a pilot program. “With BVLOS, we can build the infrastructure to bring drone delivery to 100 million Americans,” he sums up.
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