Walmart and Wing Drone Delivery Expands to 7 New Cities

Walmart and Wing are making a major push to expand their drone delivery network, announcing seven new U.S. metro areas tthis week: Memphis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area and Salt Lake City.

The expansion brings Walmart and Wing’s total footprint to nearly 20 U.S. markets, which the companies say makes it the nation’s largest residential drone delivery network. This news comes after Walmart hit 1 million drone deliveries earlier this year — a milestone that signals drone delivery is moving beyond pilot-program territory into something that resembles actual infrastructure.

“Our work with Walmart has shown that drone delivery isn’t just a novelty, it’s a service many customers count on multiple times per week,” said Heather Rivera, Wing’s Chief Business Officer in a prepared statement. “We’re already working with many communities in the seven new markets, as we accelerate our progress to bring ultra-fast delivery to 40 million residents throughout the U.S.”

Wing’s drones fly at speeds up to 60 mph and use a tether system to lower packages to a customer’s yard or driveway in as fast as 30 minutes. Customers in service areas will have access to tens of thousands of eligible Walmart items — everything from last-minute ingredients to electronics and household essentials.

The news follows an announcement at the beginning of the year that Wing would launch in Houston, as well as exapnd to Los Angeles, Miami, St. Louis and Cincinnati.. With that, here are the cities that already have Wing drone deliveries from Walmart:

• Atlanta
• Charlotte
• Dallas-Fort Worth
• Houston

And here are the cities where drone delivery is “Coming soon.” (Most of the estimated months, though, are still not announced):

• Cincinnati
• Los Angeles
• Memphis
• Miami
• New Orleans
• Orlando
• Philadelphia
• Phoenix
• Salt Lake City
• San Diego
• San Francisco Bay Area
• St. Louis
• Tampa

About those San Francisco Bay Area drone deliveries

I’ll admit this announcement is extra exciting for me. I’ve been covering drone deliveries for over a decade, and I’ve visited other cities to try it out for myself (including getting a Wing delivery of my Walmart order from a store in Forth Worth, Texas). But I live in downtown San Francisco, and I’ve never yet been able to get my own drone deliveries.

It’s about time. This is the tech capital of the world, home to countless drone companies, AI startups and Silicon Valley giants — and yet drone delivery has largely bypassed us while places like Dallas-Fort Worth and suburban Atlanta got to be the proving grounds.

My only Bay Area drone delivery experience so far was when I headed to a Bay Area suburb a couple years ago to try out deliveries from another company, Matternet. With it, Matternet’s drone flew a drone a couple miles and brought me chocolate in a park.

Now It’s still not entirely clear where in the Bay Area we’ll see Wing’s Walmart drone deliveries, including whether it’s another suburb or actual downtown San Francisco. I specifically asked Wing which Bay Area cities or neighborhoods they’re targeting and how far along they are in the local approval process, and the response was light on specifics.

“Before entering any new major metro, Wing engages with local officials, business executives, and civic organizations to evaluate regional needs and introduce our technology,” a Wing spokesperson told me in an email. “In parallel, we coordinate with the FAA to secure all required operating permissions.”

As for timing? “Our goal is to begin operations in the Bay Area by 2027,” according to the Wing spokesperson. “We look forward to sharing more specific details as we get closer to our rollout.”

The skeptic in me says that with no specific cities, no specific neighborhoods, and a timeline of “by 2027”, I shouldn’t necessarily be too excited about getting drone delivery to my own house anytime soon. Reading between the lines, it sounds like the Bay Area might be toward the back of the queue rather than the front. That’s not entirely surprising, as Bay Area airspace is complicated with multiple airports in the area. Additionally, housing density varies wildly from sprawling suburbs to packed urban cores, and local approval processes here can be… let’s say “deliberate.”

I’ll keep my excitement in check for now. But I’m still on the waitlist. And yes, you can join the waitlist.

Drone delivery is finally becoming normal

I’m seeing this sentiment more and more from readers. A few years ago, drone delivery felt like something happening to other people in other places. Now, more and more people can actually get their own drone deliveries. My own region is on the expansion list — even if the timeline is fuzzy.

“Customers expect their orders on their terms, delivered with speed and ease,” said Greg Cathey, Walmart’s Senior Vice President of eCommerce Fulfillment Transformation in a prepared statement. “Expanding into new markets with Wing allows us to provide an innovative delivery option for customers, utilizing our vast store network to make everyday shopping and fulfilling last-minute needs just a little bit easier.”

If you’re in a current or upcoming service area, drone delivery will appear as an option in the Walmart app or website based on your address. You can also order directly through the Wing app.

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