News: 0181088302

  ARM Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life (Terry Pratchett, Jingo)

Wing Expands Its Drone Delivery Service To the Bay Area (engadget.com)

(Monday March 23, 2026 @06:00PM (BeauHD) from the home-sweet-home dept.)


Wing is [1]expanding its drone delivery service to the San Francisco Bay Area. "The drone delivery startup has been rapidly expanding to metro areas across the US, but is now [2]targeting the tech-friendly Silicon Valley region ," reports Engadget. From the report:

> Going back to its inaugural deliveries, Wing ferried office supplies across Google's Mountain View campus in the Bay Area with its automated drones. It was still a startup out of Google's X, The Moonshot Factory incubator at the time, but early users were already asking for home delivery services, according to Wing. Now, Wing's latest delivery drones can deliver groceries, food, or whatever else fits in a small package weighing up to five pounds in 30 minutes or less to Bay Area residents.

Earlier this year, Wing [3]expanded its service to an additional 150 Walmart stores across the U.S. Service began recently in Atlanta and Charlotte, and it's coming soon to Los Angeles, Houston, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Miami and other major U.S. cities to be announced later. "By 2027, Walmart and Wing say they'll have a network of more than 270 drone delivery locations nationwide."



[1] https://wing.com/news/wing-drone-delivery-bay-area

[2] https://www.engadget.com/transportation/wing-expands-its-drone-delivery-service-to-the-bay-area-175748410.html

[3] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/01/11/1953234/walmart-announces-drone-delivery-integration-with-googles-ai-chatbot-gemini



Much of Bay Area Airspace Not Zoned for Drones (Score:2)

by BrendaEM ( 871664 )

So, was the FAA just saving the airspace for commercial interests only?

Re: (Score:2)

by OrangeTide ( 124937 )

It's almost like we live in a country where money buys political influence. But that can't be because this is a free country built on equality and principles of democracy.

It will flop (Score:2)

by backslashdot ( 95548 )

City people are stupid and will get stuff like this banned. They should have done drone delivery first to rural areas, where it's actually needed. After that they can expand to small towns, medium and then big city. Deploying this city-first will flop. City people don't want new technology, not unless it's marketed with some fear like delivery drivers eat your food or something like that.

Re: (Score:2)

by Locke2005 ( 849178 )

"Grab your shotgun, Cletus, we're gonna hunt us some drones!"

I just can't wait for the golden age of drone piracy to begin!

Re: (Score:2)

by Ogive17 ( 691899 )

> Deploying this city-first will flop. City people don't want new technology, not unless it's marketed with some fear like delivery drivers eat your food or something like that.

Yes - rural communities are known for being early adopters of technology.

Re: (Score:2)

by OrangeTide ( 124937 )

Rural drones where there are potentially 100 customers in your service area versus a metro of a million people and perhaps 5,000 potential customers per service area (6,436 people per sq mi in San Jose)

Product returns (Score:2)

by evanh ( 627108 )

Buying stuff online is pretty hit and miss. If the service could handle product returns for anything deemed unfit/unsuited then that would make it a proper shopping replacement.

A rope lying over the top of a fence is the same length on each side. It
weighs one third of a pound per foot. On one end hangs a monkey holding a
banana, and on the other end a weight equal to the weight of the monkey.
The banana weighs two ounces per inch. The rope is as long (in feet) as
the age of the monkey (in years), and the weight of the monkey (in ounces)
is the same as the age of the monkey's mother. The combined age of the
monkey and its mother is thirty years. One half of the weight of the monkey,
plus the weight of the banana, is one forth as much as the weight of the
weight and the weight of the rope. The monkey's mother is half as old as
the monkey will be when it is three times as old as its mother was when she
she was half as old as the monkey will be when when it is as old as its mother
will be when she is four times as old as the monkey was when it was twice
as its mother was when she was one third as old as the monkey was when it
was old as is mother was when she was three times as old as the monkey was
when it was one fourth as old as it is now. How long is the banana?