Wing And Walmart Just Made Drone Delivery A National Reality With 150-Store Expansion
Photo credit: Walmart
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After years of pilot programs and regional rollouts, drone delivery just went national. Wing and Walmart are adding 150 stores to their drone delivery network over the next 12 months, bringing the total to over 270 locations by 2027 and putting 40 million Americans within reach of autonomous delivery.
This isn’t incremental growth. It’s the moment drone delivery stops being a regional curiosity and becomes national infrastructure.
According to Wing’s announcement on LinkedIn, the expansion will establish operations in Los Angeles, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Miami, with additional markets to follow. Houston launches this Wednesday, January 15th, followed by Orlando, Tampa, and Charlotte as previously announced. Wing CEO Adam Woodworth didn’t mince words: “The question is no longer if Wing and Walmart will deliver to your city, it’s when.”
The Numbers Behind the Confidence
Wing and Walmart aren’t betting on future potential. They’re scaling what’s already working. In Dallas-Fort Worth and Metro Atlanta, their top 25% of customers now order three times per week. Delivery volume tripled in the last six months of 2025 compared to the first half of the year.
Those aren’t pilot program statistics. That’s adoption velocity that rivals early ride-sharing growth. When customers order drone delivery multiple times weekly, the service has crossed from novelty to habit.
Greg Cathey, Walmart’s Senior Vice President of Digital Fulfillment Transformation, framed it around customer behavior: “Whether it’s a last-minute ingredient for dinner, a must-have charger for a phone, or a late-night essential for a busy family, the strong adoption we’ve seen confirms that this is the future of convenience.”
Why Los Angeles Changes Everything
The inclusion of Los Angeles in this expansion is the real signal. Wing has operated successfully in suburban and exurban environments for years. The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex provided the operational blueprint. Atlanta proved the model travels.
But Los Angeles is different. Population density, airspace complexity, weather patterns, and regulatory scrutiny all intensify in America’s second-largest metro. If Wing can establish reliable operations in LA, the remaining operational questions about drone delivery viability in major American cities essentially disappear.
This also positions Wing to compete directly with Amazon Prime Air, which has struggled to move beyond its limited Arizona and Texas footprint after sensor failures and operational pauses plagued its MK30 drone program throughout 2025.
The Partnership Model That’s Winning
Walmart’s drone delivery strategy has evolved considerably since the early experimental days. The retailer ended its DroneUp partnership in January 2025, consolidating operations with Wing and Zipline as its primary providers. That decision is paying dividends.
The Wing partnership works because both companies bring irreplaceable capabilities. Walmart provides unmatched retail density, with stores positioned within 10 miles of 90% of Americans. Wing delivers the regulatory approvals, aircraft reliability, and operational expertise that come from years of commercial flights across multiple continents.
Adam Woodworth emphasized this operational maturity: “We’ve spent years building our technology to ensure that when you realize you’re out of eggs or need over-the-counter medicine, the solution is just a few taps away, seamlessly integrated into existing store operations.”
DroneXL’s Take
This expansion represents the clearest vindication yet for commercial drone delivery. While TSA security rules proposed in October threatened to burden the industry with absurd fingerprint requirements for shelf stockers, and while Congress continues debating DJI bans, Wing and Walmart are building the infrastructure that will define last-mile delivery for the next generation.
The contrast with competitors tells the story. Amazon Prime Air remains hobbled by technical setbacks and limited to a handful of locations. Regulatory uncertainty has frozen many smaller operators. Meanwhile, Wing quietly assembled the largest residential drone delivery network in the world, and now they’re tripling down.
We’ve tracked this partnership from the June 2025 five-state expansion announcement through launches in Conyers and Atlanta. Each milestone delivered on schedule, building credibility that makes this 150-store commitment believable rather than aspirational.
The real test comes next. Can Wing maintain its safety record and operational standards while scaling this aggressively? Can the partnership navigate the inevitable regulatory and community relations challenges that come with national operations? The 270-location target by 2027 leaves little margin for error.
But if you had to bet on any drone delivery company achieving genuine scale in America, the smart money is now clearly on Wing.
What do you think about drone delivery coming to your city? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Editorial Note: This article was researched and drafted with the assistance of AI to ensure technical accuracy and archive retrieval. All insights, industry analysis, and perspectives were provided exclusively by Haye Kesteloo and our other DroneXL authors, editors, and Youtube partners to ensure the “Human-First” perspective our readers expect.