DoorDash has confirmed it is building its own drone delivery operation, DoorDash Air, complete with custom-built aircraft, after securing a Part 135 air carrier certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration that allows it to run a commercial drone delivery service. The move, developed by DoorDash's in-house robotics and autonomy team, pushes the company well beyond its origins as an app linking restaurants and customers with human delivery drivers, placing it alongside established drone logistics players such as Amazon, Wing and Zipline.

DoorDash has not set a timeline for deploying its own drones, saying it will likely begin with limited pilot flights kept within an operator's line of sight before seeking further FAA approval for autonomous Beyond Visual Line of Sight operations. It will continue existing drone partnerships with Wing and Flytrex alongside the new venture. DoorDash Air emerged from DoorDash Labs, the research unit behind Dot, the sidewalk delivery robot launched in September 2025 and now running in parts of Phoenix, Arizona, and Fremont, California; co-founder Stanley Tang said the drones, robots and human couriers will all be coordinated by the company's own "Autonomous Delivery Platform" software.