Wing is planning drone deliveries to a couple of Texas-area Walmarts later this year. The Alphabet-owned drone company says the two deals will cover a total of 60.000 homes in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.
The first location is 8555 Preston Road in Frisco, Texas, a suburb Wing has been serving since 2021. That location is expected to come online “in the coming weeks.” Alphabet X's Wing already operates 11 drone centers in the region. An additional Supercenter location will be online before the end of the year.
Both locations will be available to customers within a roughly six-mile radius, and Wing promises 30-minute deliveries between 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. (every day except Wednesday, for some reason they haven't clarified). ). Deliveries include standard Walmart fare, such as groceries and medications.
“This is an important milestone for Wing,” says Wing CFO Shannon Nash, “as we continue our path to building capabilities to support some of the world's largest delivery operations. “Our technology is designed to complement existing delivery offerings, making overall systems more efficient and able to meet real customer needs.”
A potential nationwide partnership between Wing and Walmart would be a big win for both sides and comes at a time when Amazon's drone efforts reportedly still active. Of course, expanding the network to that size will require a lot of effort and approval by local and federal airspace regulations.
“Working with Wing directly aligns with our passion for finding innovative and environmentally friendly last-mile delivery solutions to provide customers with the items they want, when they want them,” says Prathibha Rajashekhar, senior vice president at Walmart. “With drones that can fly beyond line of sight, we can unlock on-demand delivery for customers who live within approximately six miles of stores that offer the service.”
