Full-Time

UAV Pilot

Flight Operations

Updated on 9/3/2026

Airbound

Airbound

51-200 employees

Drone logistics service for rural delivery

Compensation Overview

₹300k - ₹450k/yr

+ Daily travel stipend + Relocation assistance

Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India + 4 more

More locations: Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India | Hoskote, Karnataka, India | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India | Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India

In Person

Field deployment across client sites and an in-office schedule with alternate Saturdays.

Bachelor's

Category
Vehicle Operation & Delivery

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Requirements
  • A Bachelor of Technology or Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics, Electrical, Mechanical, Aerospace, Aeronautical, or a related engineering discipline.
  • Freshers with a genuine passion for aviation and the ambition to become certified unmanned aerial vehicle or drone pilots.
Responsibilities
  • Operate Airbound’s indigenous fleet of hybrid vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicles according to standard operating procedures during day-to-day delivery missions and test flights.
  • Conduct detailed pre-flight, in-flight, and post-flight checks.
  • Execute missions in compliance with Directorate General of Civil Aviation regulations, internal flight safety protocols, and site-specific restrictions.
  • Coordinate with ground teams, external partners, and air traffic control authorities where applicable.
  • Maintain accurate flight logs, incident reports, and aircraft maintenance schedules.
  • Monitor weather and assist in flight planning.
  • Perform basic field troubleshooting of unmanned aerial vehicles and ground control stations.
  • Assist in training and mentoring new drone pilots as the program scales.
  • Contribute to continuous improvement of flight standard operating procedures and operational workflows.
  • Support aircraft integration and customer demonstrations as needed.

Airbound delivers cargo using a Blended Wing Body tailsitter drone designed for rural and hard-to-reach areas. The drone can fly long distances and carry up to 1.5 kg payload, using existing infrastructure like terraces to set up delivery routes instead of building warehouses or droneports. Its logistics service operates by selling and leasing drones, offering maintenance, and providing subscription access to its delivery network. This distinguishes Airbound from competitors by focusing on underserved rural markets and combining a drone with a flexible, create-your-own-infrastructure approach rather than requiring traditional logistics infrastructure. The company aims to improve delivery efficiency and sustainability in remote locations, expanding access to essential goods and services.

Company Size

51-200

Company Stage

Series A

Total Funding

$47.5M

Headquarters

Bengaluru, India

Founded

2020

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Airbound closed a $37 million Series A on August 25, 2026, led by Greenoaks.
  • Narayana Health ended road transfers within weeks, proving clear customer value in March 2026.
  • Hiring for production and UAV pilots in August 2026 signals scaling toward commercial operations.

What critics are saying

  • Airbound remains trapped in DGCA approvals; July 2026 rules still block scaled revenue.
  • The 10,000-flight Andhra Pradesh plan requires roughly 250 aircraft; manufacturing execution remains unproven.
  • If Narayana Health or Andhra Pradesh stalls, Airbound loses validation and the business dies.

What makes Airbound unique

  • Airbound’s blended-wing-body tailsitter cuts lift penalties and enables road-like unit economics.
  • It already ran 13,000 autonomous flights and 1,000 Narayana Health medical missions.
  • Andhra Pradesh selected Airbound for a three-city drone network targeting 10,000 daily flights.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Relocation Assistance

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

-3%

1 year growth

7%

2 year growth

4%
Business Wire
Aug 26th, 2026
Bengaluru-Based Airbound Secures $8.65M Seed Funding and Contract With Narayana Health to Enable One-Cent Drone Deliveries

Airbound, an autonomous delivery logistics firm specializing in blended-wing-body aircraft, today announced $8.65 million in seed funding and a pilot partner...

TechCrunch
Aug 25th, 2026
Airbound bags $37M to make drone delivery as cheap as trucking

Airbound, an Indian drone startup, has raised $37 million in a Series A round led by Greenoaks, with participation from DoorDash, Lachy Groom, Lightspeed, and Humba Ventures. This brings the three-year-old company's total funding to nearly $50 million. The startup builds autonomous vertical-flight drones designed to weigh less than their cargo, making air transport competitive with road trucking. Its current drone weighs 3.3 pounds and carries 2.2 pounds of payload. Airbound has completed over 13,000 autonomous flights in southern India, including 1,000 with hospital network Narayana Health, transporting diagnostic samples. The startup has signed an agreement with Andhra Pradesh state government to create a three-city drone network targeting 10,000 daily flights. Despite its progress, the company remains pre-revenue, citing regulatory constraints around beyond visual line of sight operations as the main bottleneck to scaling.

DroneLife
Oct 14th, 2025
Airbound Secures $8.65M in Seed Funding and Medical Delivery Contract with Narayana Health

Airbound secures $8.65M in seed funding and medical delivery contract with Narayana Health. A bengaluru-based startup aims to make drone delivery costs negligible. Airbound, an autonomous delivery logistics company based in Bengaluru, India, has announced $8.65 million in seed funding and a pilot partnership with Narayana Health, one of India's largest hospital networks. The round was led by Lachy Groom, co-founder of Physical Intelligence, with participation from Humba Ventures and continued investment from Lightspeed. Senior leaders from Tesla, SpaceX, and Anduril also contributed, signaling confidence in Airbound's potential to scale hardware and autonomy systems. Blended-Wing-Body design for efficiency. Airbound's drones feature a blended-wing-body (BWB) with a vertical lift tail-sitter configuration - an unusual design that allows for vertical takeoff and landing while maintaining the aerodynamic advantages of fixed-wing flight. The company's proprietary carbon fiber manufacturing process supports rapid production and contributes to a high payload-to-aircraft mass ratio of 1kg-to-1.5kg. "The healthcare sector represents the perfect testing ground for our technology because it demands both reliability and efficiency," said Naman Pushp, Founder and CEO of Airbound. "Our partnership with Narayana Health validates that our approach can handle the most critical delivery requirements while demonstrating the cost advantages that will make our service accessible globally." Pilot program with Narayana Health. The partnership with Narayana Health will involve a three-month pilot program demonstrating Airbound's capability for medical logistics. Ten drone deliveries per day will transport blood samples, medical tests, and other supplies between hospital locations. The pilot will serve as a proof of concept for one of the most demanding use cases for drone delivery. "At Narayana Health, we are constantly exploring innovative solutions to enhance patient care and operational efficiency," said Dr. Devi Shetty, Founder and Chairman of Narayana Health. "Our partnership with Airbound allows us to pilot a promising technology that could significantly improve the speed and reliability of medical deliveries." Scaling toward global applications. Airbound's mission is to make delivery costs so low that distance becomes irrelevant in accessing goods and services. The company's aircraft design and manufacturing efficiency aim to reduce delivery expenses by up to twenty times compared to conventional logistics methods. "Airbound's approach to drone delivery addresses fundamental physics and economics problems that have limited the scalability of existing solutions," said Lachy Groom of Physical Intelligence. "Their design and manufacturing capabilities position them to achieve the cost efficiency needed to make drone delivery truly viable." The pilot program offers Airbound valuable operational data and regulatory validation as it prepares to expand beyond medical delivery. Following its latest funding round, Airbound has raised over $10 million to date and plans to scale manufacturing capacity and hiring in preparation for broader market adoption in 2026. For more information, visit www.airbound.co

Barchart
Oct 14th, 2025
Airbound Secures $8.65M, Partners with Nara

Bengaluru-based Airbound, an autonomous delivery logistics firm, secured $8.65 million in seed funding led by Lachy Groom, with participation from Humba Ventures and Lightspeed. The company also announced a pilot partnership with Narayana Health to showcase its drone capabilities in medical logistics. Airbound's unique blended-wing-body aircraft aims to reduce delivery costs significantly. The funding will help scale manufacturing and expand operations beyond medical delivery.

Primex Media Services Pvt. Ltd.
Mar 1st, 2025
Airbound Secures $1.7M for Drone Deliveries

Airbound, a drone delivery startup, has secured $1.7 million in seed funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Gradcapital and angel investors. The funds will be used for R&D and to venture into medical deliveries, such as transporting blood samples. Airbound plans to launch its product in early 2025. The startup aims to reduce delivery costs significantly and sees potential in quick commerce, especially in tier 2 and 3 cities. Drone regulations in India have become more liberalized.