Zipline says demand for its Texas drone deliveries is surging as restaurants sign on

Previously

In April 2025, Zipline began Walmart drone deliveries to homes within about 2 miles of a Mesquite, Texas Supercenter, free at launch, with Walmart setting the price later (Part 1).

ROWLETT, Texas, April 2026 — Zipline says its Dallas-Fort Worth network now carries restaurant meals as well as Walmart goods. Here's what changed since Part 1 (April 2025), what it cost, and what went wrong.

Cost and outcome (as of April 2026)

Brands: 16 near Rowlett, including Walmart, Crumbl Cookies, Little Caesars, Popeyes and Blaze Pizza, per Zipline. (Zipline)
Volume: "thousands of orders a day" across Dallas-Fort Worth; 2025 flight volume 50 times the prior year's, per Zipline. (Zipline)
Speed: average flight 3 minutes; shortest click-to-delivery 5 minutes, per Zipline. (Zipline)
Price to customers and cost per delivery: not disclosed.

What Zipline says

Zipline launched restaurant delivery in Rowlett in August 2025. It says it also delivers to more than 25 public locations across the metro area, including parks, the University of North Texas campus and the Rowlett Public Library. Restaurant staff place an order in a Zipline Dropbox; the drone collects it and hovers about 300 feet up while the package is lowered on a tether.

Partner quotes in the release are upbeat. "Our goal has always been to make great pizza affordable and convenient," said Trish Heusel, Vice President, Innovation for Little Caesars. Adam Stine, a Hawaiian Bros franchise owner, said: "We love creating joyful moments for our customers, and Zipline makes that even easier." Blaze Pizza franchisee Daniyal Ranmal said: "We're excited to be able to unlock this new technology and new opportunity to elevate customer experience."

Zipline says its drones have flown more than 130 million commercial miles across four continents and delivered more than 20 million products, "the same as driving every road in America more than 30 times in a row without a serious injury."

What we could check

Fox 4 reported in December 2025 that Zipline had made more than 100,000 deliveries in 19 North Texas cities since April 2025, and that Zipline said it made 1,000 deliveries a day in the area. Fox 4 also reported that "Walmart is not yet charging customers for the service." The April 2026 release doesn't say whether Walmart or the restaurants now charge for drone delivery.

The FAA's environmental finding, signed Dec. 23, 2025, cleared Zipline's plan for up to 75 sites and 500 docks in Dallas-Fort Worth, with up to 400 deliveries per site per 24-hour day within a 10-mile radius. That is the ceiling Zipline is allowed to grow toward, not a count of current flights.

Safety has drawn scrutiny in the same skies. Fox 4 reported that the FAA was investigating two incidents involving Amazon drones: one caught in an internet cable in Waco, and two that collided with a construction crane west of Phoenix in October 2025. Zipline told Fox 4 each of its aircraft carries a parachute as a backup, and cited 120 million autonomous miles at the time.

What's changed

In April 2025, Zipline served one Walmart store's 2-mile zone. A year later, it says it serves 16 brands near Rowlett and more than 25 public drop points, and makes "thousands of orders a day." The 1,000-a-day figure Zipline gave Fox 4 in December is the closest earlier comparison; both are Zipline's own counts.

What went wrong

No independent volume data. Every growth figure in the release is Zipline's.
No pricing. Neither Zipline nor its partners have said what customers pay.
Vague comparisons. "50 times" the prior year has no base number.
What we don't know yet: how many orders are restaurant meals vs. Walmart goods, delivery failure rates, and cost per flight.

Our follow-up question for Zipline

How many deliveries did Zipline make in Dallas-Fort Worth in the first quarter of 2026, and what share were restaurant orders?

Sources

Zipline, “Zipline Scales Autonomous Delivery in North Texas as Demand Surges and New Brands Join,” April 20, 2026. zipline.com
Lori Brown, Fox 4 Dallas-Fort Worth, “As DFW drone deliveries soar, can companies ensure safety?,” Dec. 9, 2025. fox4news.com
Federal Aviation Administration, “Finding of No Significant Impact and Record of Decision for Environmental Assessment for Zipline International, Inc. Proposed Drone Package Delivery Operations in Dallas-Fort Worth, TX,” signed Dec. 23, 2025. faa.gov
Earlier in this series: Part 1. /case/zipline-drone-delivery-mesquite

Disclosure: [not in copy] Editor placeholder