Wing Plans Up to $125M Fort Worth Drone Factory With 100 Jobs

Wing, the drone delivery company owned by Alphabet, announced that it will invest up to $125 million over the next two years in U.S. drone manufacturing. The centerpiece is a 15,000-square-foot facility in Fort Worth, Texas. DroneXL, DroneLife and the Fort Worth Report date the announcement to Friday, Nov. 6; Tech Times, published a day later, describes it as Thursday. This article uses Nov. 6, the date given by the Fort Worth Report and DroneXL.

The company says the plant will have capacity to build tens of thousands of aircraft a year and will employ up to 100 people. The money also covers continued research and engineering work in California and the communities where Wing operates.

What Wing has and has not put on paper

The $125 million is a ceiling, not a commitment. Wing's own post describes "up to $125M in direct manufacturing over the next two years" and gives no split between Fort Worth manufacturing and the California engineering spend.

Wing has also not disclosed a street address, a production start date, or a name for the next-generation aircraft the plant will build. It has not said how many aircraft fly from its 70-plus sites today.

The timeline is unclear too. The Dallas Morning News, citing a statement made on Wing's behalf, reported that the Fort Worth operation opened early this year. Wing's announcement calls it "our newest" facility and leaves the opening date out.

The Texas governor's office had posted no incentive announcement by Friday evening, and Wing's post names none.

The business behind it

Wing says it operates from more than 70 sites in major U.S. metro areas and has completed more than one million U.S. home deliveries in 2026 alone. It plans to reach nearly 20 markets and more than 40 million Americans by 2027. The Fort Worth Report puts Wing's Walmart footprint at nearly 70 locations.

Fort Worth is already a Wing market. The company opened its first local site at a Walmart at 8520 N. Beach St. in June 2024 and now flies from 19 area Walmart locations, two of them in North Richland Hills. Walmart also contracts Zipline for North Texas deliveries.

The Walmart relationship is the demand anchor. Wing's network with the retailer is slated to grow to more than 270 stores, with seven new markets named in June: San Diego, Memphis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and the San Francisco Bay Area. Heather Rivera, Wing's chief business officer, said the company is already working with many communities in those markets and that customers use the service multiple times per week.

CEO Adam Woodworth framed the plant as a domestic play. "The U.S. is our focus for growth, and by investing in the future of drone delivery here, we are continuing to advance American aviation innovation as we build our commercial momentum," he said.

Zipline's $1.5 billion head start

The timing is hard to miss. One day earlier, Zipline announced a $1.5 billion raise at a $21.5 billion post-money valuation. It also signed an agreement to add 300 Walmart drone delivery sites and said it will spend the money on U.S. manufacturing facilities and hiring.

Both companies fly Walmart orders in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The cost problem a factory has to solve

Drone delivery has a unit-economics problem. Tech Times puts current costs at $15 to $25 per delivery for packages of two to five pounds, against a margin-friendly range of roughly $8 to $12. Its figures for daily use are 3 to 8 deliveries per drone, against a model that needs 200 or more.

The same analysis points to DroneUp, a previous Walmart drone partner, which closed 18 hubs and cut jobs in 2024 after per-delivery costs reached about $30 against a $7 target. Those are Tech Times' figures; Wing has not published its own per-delivery cost.

The argument for scale is that cheaper aircraft cut depreciation per delivery. Tech Times cites a Low Altitude Economy analysis that puts the threshold for meaningful per-unit savings at roughly 10,000 aircraft a year. Wing's claimed capacity is well above that. Whether a plant about a quarter the size of a football field hits it is a question Wing has not answered with a production schedule.

Washington's rule is the wild card

Wing's post cites the "upcoming release" of the FAA's Part 108 rule, which would set a broader framework for routine flights beyond visual line of sight. According to DroneXL's count, the rule has sat in White House review since July 10, which made it 119 days as of Friday.

Wing and Zipline both fly today under Part 135 air carrier approvals, site by site. Wing became the first drone delivery company to receive a Part 135 Air Carrier Certificate from the FAA in 2019.

The 2025 draft of Part 108 ties airworthiness acceptance for foreign-built aircraft to a bilateral agreement with the country of origin. A factory in Texas sidesteps that clause. Wing's announcement also fits the broader federal push to strengthen domestic drone production and reduce reliance on foreign suppliers.

The next concrete marker is the rule itself. The seven markets Wing named in June are still waiting for aircraft, and until the White House clears Part 108, Wing continues to fly under site-by-site approvals.