Chick-fil-A Is Reinventing the Drive-Thru Experience Thanks to Drones. Here’s What’s Happening

Chick-fil-A has been upping the ante on its drive-thru offerings in recent years thanks to drones. Let’s take a look at this latest development.

How Chick-fil-A Uses Drones To Stay Ahead

According to the Wall Street Journal, the restaurant is at the forefront of fast-food drive-thru research, regularly sending specialized teams to its more than 3,000 locations to analyze the nuances of parking-lot traffic patterns and how personnel hand off orders. Chick-fil-A’s U.S. sales in 2023 were $21.6 billion, the highest per-restaurant amount in the American fast-food business, even after accounting for the chain’s long-standing practice of closing on Sunday. In 2024, drive-up windows accounted for around 60% of total sales.

In February 2020, the corporation established a drone-focused Film Studies unit and employed drone pilots across the country to help develop “game film,” much like NFL teams use drones to “examine game replays on the sidelines.”

“We can break down drive-thru game film just like they break down football game film,” Will McFaddin, the executive charged with enhancing service, recalled thinking at the time.

Per the WSJ, certain Chick-fil-A operators used to scale their restaurant roofs to observe traffic patterns firsthand. Today, the company takes a more advanced approach, deploying traffic-analysis teams equipped with drones to record aerial footage. This footage is then combined with video from kitchen operations and drive-thru lanes, resulting in detailed hour-long videos designed to provide store owners with valuable insights.

Philip Everett, the Rockford franchisee, contacted the team in 2022 to explore how his business could better manage busy hours. The team decided that he needed to distribute drive-thru work among more of his 120 staff members, as well as more order-takers outdoors to help move cars.

Everett made all of these modifications and more. In 2023, he had Chick-fil-A install a service door in the drive-through, allowing a worker to walk out and distribute orders to cars in line, speeding up service and addressing any issues. Drive-thru purchases at the Rockford store have increased by 50% since the 2022 film study.

According to industry data firm Intouch Insight, it takes over eight minutes on average to get through a Chick-fil-A drive-thru, compared to less than six minutes for the industry. The study also showed that when considering the number of automobiles, Chick-fil-A served orders faster than the industry average.

Worldwide Expansion

Chick-fil-A is one of the most popular fast-food restaurants in the United States, but the brand is expanding to new locations worldwide.

According to Nation’s Restaurant News, the company plans to open five to seven restaurants in the Canadian province of British Columbia by 2030. The announcement follows the brand’s debut in Alberta last year, which included locations in Calgary and Edmonton.

The fast-food company had announced intentions to open up to 20 outlets in Alberta by 2030, with eight opening this year. The province was the chain’s first move outside of Ontario, where it made its Canadian debut in 2019. There are now 22 Chick-fil-A restaurants open in Canada.

“We are excited about the opportunity to bring an authentic Chick-fil-A experience to guests in British Columbia, where local Chick-fil-A owner-operators will create hundreds of new jobs, and invest in their teams and local communities,” director of restaurant development in Canada, Jessica Sisk Roehle, said in a press release. “The incredible reception Chick-fil-A received when we expanded into Alberta this past year really energized us as we planned our next steps in Canada. British Columbia has a number of vibrant, thriving communities across the province that makes it such a great place for us to grow.”

The brand’s entry into British Columbia is only its latest move into the international market. A news statement from October 2024 announced that the company plans to open five restaurants in the United Kingdom within two years. The restaurant will open its first locations outside of North America in Belfast, Leeds, Liverpool, and London. Over the next decade, Chick-fil-A intends to invest more than $100 million in the United Kingdom.

Later that month, Chick-fil-A, Inc. announced intentions to expand into Asia, with plans to open the first store in Singapore in late 2025. This campaign is part of a $75 million commitment made over the next decade to grow the brand in the region.