up in the air

Walmart picks Houston for expanded drone delivery service

Walmart is bringing drone delivery to Houston.

Courtesy of Walmart

Coming soon to Houston-area skies: drones delivering Walmart purchases to customers.

The retailer is expanding its drone delivery service to five markets: Houston; Atlanta; Charlotte, North Carolina; Orlando, Florida; and Tampa, Florida.

Walmart already offers drone deliveries in Dallas-Fort Worth and Bentonville, Arkansas, where it’s based. In DFW, Walmart is adding supercenters to the region’s current 18-store lineup.

The drone service in the five new markets will launch at 100 Walmart supercenters. Walmart has yet to specify when the drone deliveries will begin in the new cities.

“As we look ahead, drone delivery will remain a key part of our commitment to redefining retail. We’re pushing the boundaries of convenience to better serve our customers, making shopping faster and easier than ever before,” said Greg Cathey, senior vice president of Walmart’s U.S. transformation and innovation arm.

Teaming up with drone provider Wing, Walmart delivers purchases to customers’ homes within a six-mile aircraft range of a store.

“This is real drone delivery at scale,” said Adam Woodworth, CEO of Wing, which is owned by Google’s parent company. “People all around the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex have made drone delivery part of their normal shopping habits over the past year. Now we’re excited to share this ultra-fast delivery experience with millions more people across many more U.S. cities.”

Today, Wing makes thousands of Walmart deliveries per week in the DFW and Bentonville markets, with an average order fulfillment time of less than 19 minutes.

In Houston and the other new markets, Walmart customers will be able to choose from thousands of items that can be sent via drone. Wing explains that before completing the checkout process on its delivery app, a Walmart customer can pinpoint a location for their delivery, such as their home’s front yard or backyard.

“Then your items will be packed into a specialized box before a Wing delivery drone takes off at your local Walmart store, retrieves the order, and then cruises up to 65 mph to your home. The drone then gently lowers the package to the ground just minutes after takeoff,” Wing says on its website.

To find out more about the availability of Walmart drone deliveries in the Houston area, visit wing.com/walmart.

walmart drone delivery shopping

Landing Soon

Electric air taxi network to land at major Houston airports in 2027

Courtesy photo

Archer will launch air taxi networks across Texas in 2027.

California-based aerospace company Archer Aviation is bringing its air-taxi system to the “Texas triangle” of Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and Austin in 2027.

The zero-emission electric air taxi networks will use Archer’s Midnight air taxi to “turn 60- to 90-minute drives to major airports, business districts and major destinations into 10- to 20-minute flights,” the company said in a news release. Archer plans to begin flights in the Texas triangle next year.

The Midnight air taxi is an all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. It can carry four passengers and a pilot and is designed for consecutive flights of about 20 miles.

Archer cites the Texas triangle as one of the busiest and fastest-growing “megaregions” in the country, due to its proximity to coastal regions, major airports, and a number of business districts.

“Texas is setting the bar for America’s leadership in the next generation of aviation,” Adam Goldstein, founder and CEO of Archer Aviation, said in the release. “Our planned networks will make the benefits of electric air taxis real for Texans — trading hours in traffic for minutes in the air, while connecting the biggest airports, business districts and sporting hubs in ways that America’s largest megaregion needs to grow.”

Archer Chief Commercial Officer Nikhil Goel described the air taxi experience to CW Houston as “100 times quieter than a helicopter for the price of an Uber Black.” He added that the air taxis are a combination of a helicopter, a small airplane, and a drone.

In Houston, Archer’s air taxi network will aim to connect George Bush Intercontinental, William P. Hobby, and Sugar Land Regional Airport with downtown destinations and Galveston.

The Dallas-Fort Worth network is slated to include Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas Love Field, Addison Airport, Arlington Municipal Airport, Fort Worth Meacham International Airport, and Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport, plus major business hubs like Frisco Station.

In Austin, it plans to link Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and Austin Executive Airport with the F1 Circuit Helipad at the Circuit of the Americas. Archer debuted its Midnight aircraft at the F1 Prix in the Fan Zone and the F1 Paddock at COTA.

Archer is working with state and local partners to develop charging infrastructure and plans to pursue Texas operations through the White House’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program. It recently completed its "No Roads" flight tour, which included multiple flights over the San Francisco Bay, and flew to seven cities over three days.

---

This article originally appeared on our sister site, InnovationMap.com.

air taxis airports texas triangle innovation