Wing, a drone delivery service run by Google-parent Alphabet, will begin delivering products from a variety of businesses to Dallas-Fort Worth residents this week.
The company's quadcopters will start making deliveries in Little Elm and Frisco on April 7, but Wing's long-term goal is to serve many more people around the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, the company said.
Wing Begins Drone Deliveries in Dallas-Fort Worth Area
Wing will begin delivering goods from the drugstore giant Walgreens to residents of Little Elm and Frisco, Texas on Thursday, April 7. Soon after, the company will transport various products to other businesses in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, such as prescription pet medications from Easyvet, ice cream from Blue Bell Creameries, and first-aid kits from Texas Health.
Walgreens employees will process their own orders and load products onto drones, while Wing oversees the delivery from a remote location. This will be America's most scalable drone delivery operation to date, the company said.
According to CNET, drones have the ability to make deliveries faster than trucks and cars since they can fly over traffic and houses rather than being stuck in it. Drone delivery, on the other hand, must overcome regulatory and safety challenges for it to succeed broadly.
Wing's operational model entails placing small shipping containers near participating businesses to serve as mini-hangers from which Wing's drones will be deployed. Employees at each partnered store take the products outdoors to load them into a cardboard package attached to the drone after receiving orders online. Wing's operations team then remotely pilots the drone to the customers' residences.
When did Wing start doing drone deliveries?
Wing began making drone deliveries in Australia (its initial market) in early 2019, and expanded to the US later that year. The company has had a streak of minor achievements, most notably completing its 200,000th delivery in three countries: the US, Finland, and Australia. However, Engadget noted that most of them have been in smaller towns, hence, the city launch is a big deal.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area is expected to be busier than Wing's prior service areas. Wing says its airspace is much more complicated, adding the fact that it has a population of around 7 million people.
Adam Woodworth, chief technology officer (CTO) of Wing, said that he wants to set "clear expectations" that not everyone who lives within range of the company's drones will be able to order on Day 1. He noted that the company is going to invite customers in groups to make sure they will have a good first experience with drone delivery.
Before pulling the trigger on a large-scale rollout, Wing is concentrating on incremental improvements. Wing has been testing its service, according to a report by The Verge, in the Dallas suburbs since last year, and the move to go commercial shows the company's growing faith in the technology. Woodworth said in a blog post that this is an important milestone for the company and drone delivery in the US.
