DoorDash is building its own drone delivery business after FAA approval

DoorDash is building a drone delivery business called DoorDash Air, including its own aircraft. The company received a Part 135 air carrier certification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, allowing it to legally operate a commercial drone delivery service in the United States. The effort is being developed by DoorDash’s robotics and autonomy team and is intended to eventually operate within the company’s delivery app.

The FAA approval does not mean DoorDash’s custom-built drones will begin delivering food tomorrow or next month. DoorDash did not provide a detailed timeline for when its aircraft will be used in operations. Before broader deployment, the company is likely to start with limited pilot programs where unmanned aircraft travel short distances while staying within the operator’s line of sight.

For drones to fly autonomously over longer distances, DoorDash will need FAA approval for Beyond Visual Line of Sight technology. TechCrunch notes that companies including Amazon, Wing, and Zipline have received that certification in recent years. That makes the Part 135 approval an important milestone, but not the final regulatory hurdle for a more expansive drone delivery network.

DoorDash says drones and sidewalk bots fit into a broader delivery network, not a separate side project. DoorDash Labs has developed software called the Autonomous Delivery Platform to coordinate Dot, human delivery drivers, and, soon, drones. The system is meant to help determine in real time whether a human driver, drone, or sidewalk bot is the best option for a delivery.

DoorDash is maintaining its existing drone delivery partnerships with Wing and Flytrex even as it builds DoorDash Air. The company partnered with Alphabet’s Wing in 2022 for a drone delivery program in Australia and later expanded that partnership to U.S. cities including Dallas-Fort Worth in 2024. DoorDash Labs is also behind Dot, the autonomous sidewalk delivery bot now operating in Phoenix-area suburbs and Fremont, California.