DoorDash's in-house drone program receives FAA approval
A leading delivery platform has just taken a key step towards launching its proprietary drone service.
DoorDash's in-house drone program, DoorDash Air, has earned Part 135 air carrier certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The certification, which DoorDash described as a “significant regulatory and technical milestone,” means that the company is authorized to operate as an air carrier.
DoorDash says that FAA Part 135 certification requires drone operators to pass a robust five-stage evaluation process verifying aircraft airworthiness, maintenance programs and safety procedures. With the approval, DoorDash is now set to design and build its drone program inside DoorDash Labs, its in-house robotics and autonomy team. The drones will be American-designed and built, with the majority of components made in the United States.
“We want drone delivery to work for any merchant, anywhere,” said Harrison Shih, head of DoorDash Air. “We're building the full stack to make that possible from the ground infrastructure to the drone itself, and the handoff systems that make it work together seamlessly. Advances in hardware, compute and AI are creating extraordinary new capabilities for local commerce, and becoming a certified air carrier accelerates everything we're building.”
DoorDash says the scale of DoorDash Air is what will make it useful for merchants. The company said it will have more details later this year on the aircraft program and how the drones fit into its broader network.
Earlier this year, DoorDash Labs brought its autonomous delivery robot, named Dot, to market. DoorDash publicly unveiled Dot, which is manufactured by partner Sonic Manufacturing Technologies in Fremont, in September 2025.
[READ MORE: DoorDash brings Wing drone delivery to new market]
“A local business already reaches customers ordering dinner, groceries, or phone chargers through the DoorDash, without building any of the infrastructure behind it,” the company said. “As the network keeps growing, we expect drone delivery to scale right along with it, giving more merchants a faster way to reach the customers already ordering from them.”
Wing partnership
Drone delivery isn’t new for DoorDash. The platform initially launched drone delivery with Wing in Australia in 2022. In March 2024, DoorDash began allowing select local consumers in Christianburg, Va., to order eligible menu items from Wendy’s and have them delivered via drones from Wing.
DoorDash followed this in December 2024 with a partnership to provide delivery of purchases from Stonebriar Centre in Frisco, Texas, and Hulen Mall in Fort Worth, Texas, using Wing drones.
In May 2025, DoorDash began providing delivery via Wing drone from a selection of local and national restaurants at The Arboretum Shopping Center in Charlotte, N.C., to eligible customers.
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in San Francisco, DoorDash provides on-demand delivery services in 25 countries across the globe.
