Papa Johns is the second major pizza chain to go airborne this year. The brand teamed up with Wing, Alphabet’s drone delivery subsidiary, to launch a pilot program in Indian Trail, North Carolina on May 11, as PMQ Pizza reported. Customers near Sun Valley Commons can now order three Oven Toasted Sandwiches through the Wing app and get them flown to their doorstep. Pizza isn’t on the menu yet.
The pilot operates out of a single Papa Johns franchise in Indian Trail, just outside Charlotte. The drop zone is limited to residents near Sun Valley Commons, which is already an established Wing operations hub. Wing opened a delivery nest there in April for its DoorDash partnership, and the new Papa Johns service taps into that existing infrastructure.
The company also has a larger aircraft in its fleet that handles up to 5 pounds for bigger orders. Packages get lowered to the ground from about 23 feet via a retractable tether, so the drone never actually lands at the customer’s location.
That payload limit is why sandwiches are flying and pizzas aren’t. A single Oven Toasted Sandwich fits comfortably under 2.5 pounds. A large pizza in a box, plus sides, does not.
Three sandwiches are eligible for drone delivery: the Philly Cheesesteak, the Chicken Bacon Ranch, and the Steak and Mushroom. Papa Johns introduced its Oven Toasted Sandwiches in early April, and the drone pilot is essentially a tech showcase for the new product line.
Customers have to order through the Wing app for now. Papa Johns and Wing say the drone network will eventually integrate directly with the Papa Johns first-party app and with Lou AI, the chain’s Google Cloud-powered digital ordering assistant. No timeline on that integration.
Published on 5/18/2026