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Wing: the largest residential drone network in the US, and what the FAA has actually approved
Alphabet's Wing flies Walmart orders in Dallas-Fort Worth, metro Atlanta, Greater Houston, Charlotte and, since July 2026, Central Florida, and says it makes thousands of home deliveries a day. Its FAA filings authorize up to 368 nest locations across five metros, each nest housing up to 24 aircraft with a six-mile radius. This page tracks the authorizations, the markets, the aircraft, and the record.
368
Nests FAA-authorized
DFW 75 · Central FL 150 · Houston 75 · Atlanta 43 · Charlotte 25
5
Metros FAA-authorized
Plus Christiansburg, VA since 2019
7
New metros announced
June 10, 2026, with Walmart; no filings found yet
66
Walmart stores flying
Both partners, as of May 2026 (Walmart)
0
US crashes in DroneXL record
Records sweep pending
400
Flights per nest per day
Authorized maximum
—
Questions answered
15 generic + 15 specific, due Sept. 15
The aircraft
Hummingbird 7000W-B and 8000-A · from FAA filings and Wing statements| Aircraft | Wing Hummingbird 7000W-B and 8000-A, hybrid: vertical lift rotors plus fixed-wing cruise |
| Weight | 14 lb (7000W-B) and 24.3 lb (8000-A) at maximum takeoff, per the FAA's national table; filings say under 15 and under 25 |
| Payload | 2.3 to 2.7 lb (7000W-B); 5 to 6.6 lb (8000-A) |
| Aircraft weight per pound of cargo | About 5 lb (7000W-B); about 3 lb (8000-A) |
| Range | About 6 miles from each nest |
| Delivery method | Hovers about 23 ft up and lowers the package on a tether; releases at ground level; never lands off-site |
| Hours | 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.; flights leave the nest 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (FAA) |
| Nest | Commercial parking lots, typically a Walmart; up to 24 aircraft per nest (FAA), 18 per Wing; autoloaders for remote pickup |
| Flights per nest | Up to 400 per day |
| Recovery system | No parachute in FAA filings; safety case rests on a very light airframe and tethered delivery |
| Noise | FAA sets nests 65 ft from homes at 400 flights a day (120 ft near airports). dBA figures are in Appendix D of the DFW and Central Florida filings; not yet extracted, asked of Wing. |
How it compares
| Operator | Aircraft | Empty | Payload | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | MK30 | 77.9 lb | 5 lb | None |
| Zipline | P2 Zip | 55 lb | 8 lb | |
| Wing | Hummingbird 7000W-B / 8000-A | 14 lb / 24.3 lb MTOW | 2.3 to 2.7 lb / 5 to 6.6 lb | Light airframe |
Figures from FAA filings and published interviews.
What Wing has said on the record
Wing says it has completed more than one million commercial deliveries worldwide, that average Walmart delivery time is 23 minutes, and that customers in existing markets order several times a week.
Wing says it is building the largest residential drone delivery network in the US, at thousands of deliveries a day (Sept. 3, 2026). Walmart's own quarter supports the order of magnitude: over 400,000 drone deliveries across both partners in the 89 days to April 30.
On collision behavior and why no parachute: nothing on the record yet. Questions go out Sept. 8.
Where it flies
5 FAA-authorized metros · 1 legacy site · 7 announced metros · 0 incidents on record Wing Solid: operating or FAA-approved Hollow: announced or in FAA review Dashed: former site Black ring: incident
Pins are metro-level. Wing's FAA filings authorize a maximum nest count inside a metro and do not list addresses; nests sit in commercial parking lots and are added here site by site from local permits and DroneXL coverage. Charlotte's authorization runs under North Carolina's programmatic EA rather than a standalone filing.
Sites, markets and authorized areas
Click a column to sort| Code | Place↑ | State | Detail | Metro / scope | Status | FAA decision | Filing |
|---|
FAA authorizations
Every environmental review and re-evaluation on the FAA's public list| Metro or area | State | Scope | Aircraft | Flights per day | Status | FAA decision | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christiansburg | VA | 1 nest; higher pilot-to-aircraft ratio | 15-lb Hummingbird | Not capped in summary | FAA-approved | 2021-12-17 | FAA PDF |
| Frisco and Little Elm | TX | 2 nests | 15-lb Hummingbird | Not capped in summary | 2022-02-09 | FAA PDF | |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | TX | Up to 25 nests, 6-mile radius each | Hummingbird | 400 per nest | 2023-11-08 | FAA PDF | |
| Charlotte | NC | Charlotte Metro operating area; up to 25 hubs (Apr 2025) | Hummingbird (hybrid) | Per NC PEA | 2024-12-18 / 2025-04-29 | FAA PDF | |
| Dallas-Fort Worth (supplemental) | TX | Up to 75 nests; hours to 10 p.m.; remote pickup autoloaders | 7000W-B (<15 lb), 8000-A (<25 lb) | 400 per nest | 2025-04-29 | FAA PDF | |
| Central Florida | FL | Up to 150 nests | 7000W-B, 8000-A (<25 lb) | 400 per nest | 2025-05-30 | FAA PDF | |
| Houston | TX | Up to 75 nests | 7000W-B, 8000-A (<25 lb) | 400 per nest | 2026-08-13 | FAA PDF | |
| Atlanta | GA | Up to 43 nests | 7000W-B, 8000-A (<25 lb) | 400 per nest | 2026-08-18 | FAA PDF |
8 FAA actions · 368 nests authorized across five metros plus Christiansburg · 147,200 flights per day on paper at 400 per nest. None of the seven metros announced June 10, 2026 has a filing on the FAA's public list; they may proceed under the national programmatic EA signed July 28, 2026.
Markets in DroneXL's record
Where the aircraft are confirmed flying, and where they are promised| Place | State | Partner | Status | Since / target | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas-Fort Worth | TX | Walmart | 2023 | Wing's largest network; shares airspace with Flytrex and Zipline | DroneXL | |
| Metro Atlanta | GA | Walmart | 2025 | Amazon announced Atlanta too, May 2026 | DroneXL | |
| Greater Houston | TX | Walmart | Jan 2026 buildout | First phase of the 270-location plan | DroneXL | |
| Charlotte | NC | Walmart | 2025 | Under NC programmatic EA | DroneXL | |
| Greater Orlando | FL | Walmart | July 2026 | First Florida market; two stores at launch | DroneXL | |
| Cincinnati | OH | Walmart | Announced | Testing, 2026 | DroneXL | |
| Memphis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, SF Bay Area, Salt Lake City | Multi | Walmart | Announced | Announced June 10, 2026 | Part of 270+ locations by 2027 | DroneXL |
5 metros confirmed operating in DroneXL coverage · 8 announced · Walmart target: more than 270 locations reaching 40 million Americans by 2027.
What has come down
US incidents on record for Wing| Date | Location | Type | What happened | Outcome | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No collision or uncontrolled descent in DroneXL's US record for this operator as of Sept. 8, 2026. A sweep of FAA and NTSB records is pending; rows are added only with a document or a DroneXL story behind them. | |||||
0 rows. 0 rows. This is the absence of a record in DroneXL's archive, not a verified safety statistic; FAA and NTSB records are being swept and Wing is being asked for its full incident list (question 7 of the generic set).
Questions for Wing
Sent Sept. 8, 2026 · deadline Sept. 15, 2026 · Pending- 01The FAA's DFW filing lists two aircraft, the 15-lb 7000W-B and the 25-lb 8000-A. What is each one's empty weight and payload, and which one flies most Walmart orders today?Pending
- 02Wing's safety case relies on a light airframe and a tethered drop rather than a parachute. What is the designed descent behavior if lift is lost, and what does a 25-lb 8000-A do after a collision?Pending
- 03Has any Wing aircraft come down outside its nest or a designated contingency site in the US since 2019? Provide dates and locations.Pending
- 04How many nests are active today across the 368 authorized, and how many aircraft per nest are typically in service?Pending
- 05Will the seven metros announced June 10, 2026 proceed under the national programmatic EA, or will Wing file metro-specific environmental assessments?Pending
- 06Wing and Flytrex share DFW airspace under a UTM arrangement. How are conflicts with Zipline and Amazon aircraft in the same metros deconflicted?Pending
- 07How many of the Hummingbird's lift rotors can fail before it can no longer hover, and what does the aircraft do if it loses lift while a package is on the tether above a yard?Pending
- 08The FAA Technical Noise Reports for DFW and Central Florida give the Hummingbird's sound levels. State the dBA at 50, 100 and 250 feet in hover and in cruise for both the 7000W-B and the 25-lb 8000-A, and the dominant frequency. Residents describe the 7000W-B as a high whine; is the heavier aircraft louder or lower in pitch?Pending
- 09Wing's DFW filing puts the 8000-A at 20 to 30 percent of the fleet. Which nests fly it today, what share of deliveries does it carry, and does it fly the same routes and altitudes as the 7000W-B?Pending
- 10The FAA lets Wing site a nest 65 feet from a home, or 120 feet inside Class B and D airspace. How many of the 368 authorized nests sit within 120 feet of a home, school or church, and where are they?Pending
- 11Wing performs 6 a.m. hover checks (FitBIT) and 60-foot mapping hovers (GeoBIT) at every nest before the operating day. Which nests are within earshot of homes at 6 a.m., and has Wing measured what residents hear?Pending
- 12At 400 flights a day per nest and 75 nests in DFW, how many overflights a day does a street 1, 3 and 5 miles from a nest receive at full build-out, and how does the route-diversification software cap the number of times one home is overflown?Pending
- 13What do the Hummingbird's cameras and sensors record over private property, at what resolution, who at Wing or Alphabet can view it, how long is it kept, and has any of it been shared with police or a third party?Pending
- 14If a tethered package, the tether hook or the aircraft damages a roof, a vehicle or a person, who is liable, under what insurance, and how does a resident file a claim? Has Wing paid any claim in the US?Pending
- 15At what wind speed, gust, rain rate and temperature does Wing stop launching, and what does an aircraft already on a delivery do when the limit is crossed while it is hovering at 23 feet with a package on the tether? Who at a town is notified when a Wing aircraft lands anywhere other than its nest?Pending
Status
Every operator gets the same fifteen generic questions on the same terms: weight and payload, recovery system, collision behavior, single points of failure, delivery method, drop-zone checks, incident record, who gets the call, sound level, pitch, overflight frequency, cameras and data, liability, weather limits, and an engineer at the public meeting. Plus the specific set at left. Answers are published in full and this page is updated the day they arrive.
Wing: sent Sept. 8, 2026, deadline Sept. 15, 2026. Result: Pending. 15 generic plus 15 specific questions sent Sept. 8, due Sept. 15.
For your town
The council handout is operator-neutral. The FAA controls the airspace and the certificate; your town controls the site's zoning and permits, and the record it builds by asking.
Council questionsDroneXL coverage
Every row above links to one of theseSep 4, 2026
Wing says it runs the largest US drone network as Amazon promises 500 cities
Jul 29, 2026
Wing and Walmart open Orlando under Florida's new drone law
Jun 29, 2026
Flytrex and Wing share Dallas airspace under UTM
Jun 27, 2026
Walmart and Wing drones head to Cincinnati
Jun 25, 2026
Maricopa, Arizona confirmed for Walmart Wing deliveries
Jun 17, 2026
Walmart and Wing name seven new metros
May 8, 2026
Amazon targets metro Atlanta, where Wing and Walmart already fly
Mar 29, 2026
Wing's five drone delivery myths
Primary sources
Every figure on this page traces to one of these- FAA FONSI/ROD, Wing Aviation, Atlanta (up to 43 nests), Aug. 18, 2026
- FAA FONSI/ROD, Wing Aviation, Houston (up to 75 nests), Aug. 13, 2026
- FAA FONSI/ROD, Wing Aviation, Central Florida (up to 150 nests), May 30, 2025
- FAA Supplemental EA FONSI/ROD, Wing Aviation, Dallas-Fort Worth (up to 75 nests), Apr. 29, 2025
- FAA Written Re-evaluation, Wing Aviation, Charlotte Metro (up to 25 hubs), Apr. 29, 2025
- FAA FONSI/ROD, Wing Aviation, Dallas-Fort Worth (up to 25 nests), Nov. 8, 2023
- FAA FONSI/ROD, Wing Aviation, Frisco and Little Elm, Texas, Feb. 9, 2022
- FAA ROD, Wing Aviation, Christiansburg, Virginia, Dec. 17, 2021
- FAA: Public Involvement and Environmental Review for Drone Operations (index)
- Popular Science interview with Wing CEO Adam Woodworth (aircraft weights), 2022
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