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Walmart and Wing plan drone deliveries in Denver and Seattle by 2027

Engadget ·

Walmart and Alphabet-owned Wing are expanding their drone delivery service to Denver and Seattle, scheduled to launch in 2027. This expansion marks a significant step towards making drone deliveries mainstream, as the companies plan to eventually offer air delivery from more than 270 Walmart stores across the United States.

The service currently operates in five metropolitan areas: Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, and Orlando. The drones can travel at up to 60 mph and carry packages weighing up to five pounds. The expansion roadmap includes fourteen additional destinations including Miami, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area.

  • Walmart and Wing expanding drone deliveries to Denver and Seattle in 2027
  • Service already operates in five US cities, expanding to 14 more
  • Drones carry up to 5 pounds at 60 mph speeds

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Walmart and Wing (a division of Alphabet, the tech company that owns Google) are working together to deliver packages to customers using drones. They already operate this service in five major American cities and now plan to expand to Denver and Seattle by 2027.

Drone delivery remains a relatively new concept, though the technology is becoming more established. The drones used can travel at speeds up to 60 miles per hour and carry packages weighing up to five pounds, which suits them to smaller items like groceries or medicines rather than bulkier purchases.

The expansion shows that large retailers are betting seriously on drone delivery becoming a normal way to receive goods. If successful across more cities, it could eventually transform how people receive everyday items by reducing delivery times from days to just minutes. Yet the technology still faces significant regulatory and practical obstacles before it becomes widely available.

Both sides, in good faith

The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.

The case for

Drone delivery represents meaningful technological advancement that benefits consumers through faster, more efficient package delivery whilst potentially reducing carbon emissions compared to traditional delivery vehicles. The service creates new jobs in technology, operations and customer support, and positions companies at the forefront of innovation that will eventually serve underserved or remote areas that conventional delivery struggles to reach economically.

The case against

Rapid automation of delivery work threatens hundreds of thousands of delivery worker jobs without clear retraining pathways, whilst community concerns about airspace congestion, noise pollution and privacy remain inadequately addressed by regulators. The expansion prioritises corporate efficiency and profit over the wellbeing of existing workers and neighbourhoods, concentrating wealth gains among technology shareholders whilst distributing the disruption costs among working people and local communities.

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Originally published by Engadget as “Wing and Walmart are bringing drone deliveries to Denver and Seattle in 2027”.