Walmart Expands Wing Drone Delivery to 150 More Stores

Walmart and Alphabet's Wing subsidiary announced plans Monday to expand their drone delivery partnership, adding service to 150 more stores and creating the largest commercial drone network in the United States by 2027.

The expansion will bring the total number of participating Walmart locations to 270, serving approximately 40 million customers across multiple states. It builds on existing operations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Atlanta, where the service launched in August 2023. Deliveries will begin in Houston on January 15, with further rollouts planned for 2026 and 2027 in cities including Los Angeles, Miami, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Orlando, Tampa and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Wing's drones, which can carry payloads of up to five pounds, travel at speeds of up to 65 miles per hour and cover round-trip distances of up to 12 miles. The aircraft operate beyond visual line of sight, picking up packages from designated spots at Walmart stores using tethers and hooks before lowering them to customers' yards. The service focuses on small, urgent items such as eggs, ground beef, fresh produce, over-the-counter medicine and snacks. Delivery typically takes 30 minutes or less,...