Many companies have expressed interest in doing drone deliveries of their (or others’) products. But, some companies are well pass the “interest” phase and that includes Wing Aviation as they are taking off with drone deliveries starting today, April 7.
Drone Deliveries Starting in the DFW Today
I first wrote about Wing Aviation 3 years ago now. They are owned by Alphabet, the company behind Google. They first started using drones in the US to trial run deliveries in smaller towns and counties in North Carolina and Virginia. But, as of today, they are launching drone deliveries in a major metropolitan area – Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. They are already flying heavy in Australia where they were hitting over 1,000 deliveries in a single day.
Wing Aviation starting up in the DFW today! | Courtesy of Wing Aviation
Their initial supply partner is Walgreens where their employees will process the orders and then have those loaded on to the Wing drones. Wing Aviation pilots will fly these unmanned aircraft to their customers’ homes for delivery. But, they have also secured three other partners as well – easyvet for pet medication, Texas Health for first aid kits, and, wait for it, Blue Bell Creameries for actual ice cream delivery. In fact, they specifically had this to say about that kind of deliver – “yes, it will stay frozen on those hot Texas summer days!”
If you live in the DFW area (specifically Frisco and Town of Little Elm), the company does want potential/future customers to know that they are not going to be able to service everyone on Day 1. Instead, they will be rolling out to various neighborhoods as the days and weeks pass and show how the system is working.
Here is a portion of the e-mail which you can read here:
So what should you all expect next?
Watch your inbox for more information from Jacob and Kendal, as they’ll be your drone delivery flight attendants for the next several months. They’re going to share info about which neighborhoods will be invited to board first, and how to check your address for eligibility and ultimately place orders.
I do want to set clear expectations: not everyone who lives within range of our drones will be able to order on Day 1. We’re going to invite customers in groups to make sure everyone has a good first experience with drone delivery.
For the latest information, visit wing.com/dfw.
Amazon is still wanting to get into this space as well but, for now, Google has beat them to it (or, at least Google’s parent company). Kind of like SpaceX is beating Amazon’s founder in space as well… 🙂
Who do we sue once they fall out of the sky and the ice cream falls on our head