Drone delivery is poised for takeoff across America

Drones crashing into windows and squashing your carton of eggs used to be the punchline of tech jokes. Now? They might actually save you when your kid reminds you at 8 pm that they need cupcakes for school tomorrow.

Walmart announced plans to expand drone delivery to 150 additional US stores within the next year, up from about two dozen currently, making sky deliveries available to tens of millions of new shoppers.

How it works: Walmart customers place orders through the Wing app (and soon the Walmart app), similar to DoorDash or Instacart. Store staff then pick and pack the items into lightweight cardboard baskets and attach them to drones, which fly autonomously while monitored remotely by humans.

• Packages are lowered into customers’ yards or doorsteps via tether, so landings aren’t necessary.
• Walmart says most drone deliveries—currently free for Walmart+ members—will arrive in 30 minutes or less.

The service is already up and buzzing in Dallas, and heading soon to other major US cities like LA, Miami, and Cincinnati.

Walmart isn’t flying solo

Several other big players in the tech industry are betting on drones:

• Amazon is currently scaling Prime Air, its drone delivery service, with plans to deliver ~500 million packages/year via air by 2030.
• Drone delivery startup Zipline partners with retailers, prescription drug centers, restaurants, and other businesses across the US.
• Uber Eats is currently testing drone drops in select cities through a partnership with drone company Flytrex.

Looking ahead…One of the biggest hurdles to widespread adoption of drone deliveries across America is poised to disappear in the near future. Until recently, federal rules required drones to stay within the operator’s line of sight, forcing companies to apply for individual waivers or post observers along flight paths.

But under a new FAA rule in the final stages of being implemented, commercial drones will be allowed to fly beyond visual line of sight.