Overview
- DoorDash announced Wednesday that it received FAA Part 135 certification and formally launched DoorDash Air, joining a small group of U.S. operators cleared for commercial drone delivery.
- The company says DoorDash Labs will design and assemble purpose-built drones and build the ground infrastructure needed for merchant handoffs and maintenance.
- DoorDash will use its Autonomous Delivery Platform to choose in real time between Dashers, sidewalk robots and drones so the system routes orders by speed, cost and location.
- The firm will keep working with partner operators such as Alphabet’s Wing and Flytrex even as it adds its own aircraft, and it expects limited pilots ahead of a planned commercial start in fall 2026.
- Regulatory limits remain: DoorDash needs further FAA approvals for extended beyond-visual-line-of-sight flights, and the company says drones will mainly target 3–5 mile orders while humans continue to handle most deliveries.