How It’s Delivered: Wing Gives Us a Glimpse of a Future with Drone Delivery
The company, owned by Google parent Alphabet, gave FLYING an inside look at its new service outside Dallas as drone delivery gathers momentum in the U.S.
Wing’s Frisco, Texas, drone delivery service uses only a tennis court-sized space on the ground. [Jack Daleo/FLYING]
Key Takeaways:
Wing has launched a highly automated drone delivery service with Walmart in Frisco, Dallas, demonstrating a compact setup and efficient, largely autonomous operations that require minimal human intervention.
The service facilitates rapid deliveries within a 6-mile radius, with drones autonomously managing flights, payload attachment via tether (soon to be self-loading), and precise drops, completing a full cycle within minutes.
Leveraging over 350,000 global deliveries, Wing plans to scale its U.S. operations through innovations like the Wing Delivery Network for efficient resource sharing and the AutoLoader to further automate store integration.
The broader growth and scalability of drone delivery in North America, including Wing's expansion, depend significantly on clearer regulatory frameworks from the FAA, particularly for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations.
About 210,000 now live in Frisco, to the northwest of the fast-growing Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. But that’s not the buzzing I’m referring to. Because accompanying that influx of residents are the first flights of a new technology: drones.
CREATE A FREE ACCOUNT
Sign up to keep reading
Create a free account to continue. Already a member? Sign in below.
Jack is a staff writer covering advanced air mobility, including everything from drones to unmanned aircraft systems to space travel—and a whole lot more. He spent close to two years reporting on drone delivery for FreightWaves, covering the biggest news and developments in the space and connecting with industry executives and experts. Jack is also a basketball aficionado, a frequent traveler and a lover of all things logistics.
