I wanted to share a little bit about a helpful new drone delivery service that we’re trying out today: halloween candy refills.

If you look back at the series of technology announcements we’ve made over the past couple of years, you may start to notice a common thread that runs through them all: we’ve been optimizing our technology to integrate with some of the most significant retail operations in the world.

Each advancement has improved the system in its own right, but the effect is magnified when you put them all together. Today, I had the opportunity to take a step back and speak about this strategy for the first time publicly at UP.Summit, an annual gathering of aviation technologists held this year in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The timing and venue couldn’t be more appropriate, as Wing and Walmart are just now ramping up service together from our first Supercenter in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. 

Over the past few years, we’ve been working hard to show what a scaled-up drone delivery system will look like. We’ve demonstrated a service that delivers upwards of 1,000 packages a day – or roughly one every 25 seconds. Earlier this year, we unveiled the Wing Delivery Network – our next generation operational model which is designed to enable high-volume drone delivery across major metro areas and will enable Wing to support millions of deliveries in the coming years. And just recently, we announced a partnership with Walmart that represents our largest expansion to date in the U.S. – bringing our service within reach of 60,000 people in the Dallas area.

As we take another step toward scale, we’re excited to share two key appointments to the Wing leadership team.

Imagine you’re running late for work in the morning. You don’t have time to brew coffee or grab one on the way so you place an order through your favorite coffee shop’s app and within minutes, a drone takes off from a nearby location, skillfully navigating the sky to your home. As you rush out the door, your steaming hot cup of coffee awaits, perfectly ready to go. This streamlined process cuts through the traditional wait times and inefficiencies associated with ground-based deliveries like traffic and driver availability.

Over the last ten years, we have seen drones and drone delivery technology go from a cool idea with vast potential to a real solution that is delivering for communities. This transition is happening because many of the pieces needed to propel the growth of the industry are quickly coming into place.

In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, innovative solutions are essential to improving patient care. One solution that holds immense potential is drone delivery. Last month, Wing announced its partnership with Apian, a United Kingdom-based healthcare logistics company connecting healthcare providers with drone operators and service. Wing, a global drone delivery company, has completed 350,000+ deliveries across 3 countries, covering everything from packages to over-the-counter medicine. Healthcare should benefit from on-demand delivery much like consumers do in their personal lives.

I’m excited to share that Wing and Walmart are working together to launch drone delivery in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in the coming weeks. We’ll start with two Walmart Supercenters, so residents can order a range of products, including quick meals, groceries, household essentials, and over-the-counter medicines.