DoorDash received FAA Part 135 certification to run its own drone fleet. Last year drones delivered in 25 minutes on average, with some partner locations seeing order volume grow 30%.
DoorDash received permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to launch its own drone delivery program, the company said Wednesday.
The FAA granted DoorDash a Part 135 air carrier certification, a milestone the company called “significant” after a rigorous evaluation process. The certification lets DoorDash run its own drone fleet rather than relying solely on third-party partners.
“We want drone delivery to work for any merchant, anywhere. 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,” said Harrison Shih, head of DoorDash Air.
DoorDash said drone delivery can cut wait times for both essentials and time-sensitive items. Last year, drones delivered in an average of 25 minutes, based on the company’s latest estimates. Some participating locations of its drone partner pilots saw order volume grow by roughly 30%.
The economics matter beyond speed. More than 20% of orders on the DoorDash platform in 2025 traveled three to five miles, but those orders took on average nearly 25% longer than shorter deliveries, the company said. The bottleneck was finding a Dasher willing to take a mid-range trip.
“Routing mid-range deliveries to drones lets Dashers focus on the orders they often favor: shorter deliveries that can be done quickly, staying near a high concentration of merchants for optimal routing, and maximizing their earning potential by getting them to their next order faster,” the release said.
The drone push puts DoorDash in direct competition with Walmart, which said earlier this month its drones have now made more than 1 million deliveries. Forty percent of those happened in Walmart's current quarter. Walmart operates drone delivery across 66 stores in four states serving five metro markets.
“Since launch we’ve seen customers evolve from trying it to experience the novelty of the service for items like bananas or snack food, to now turning to it frequently to get items delivered really fast, when they need them most,” Walmart said.
DoorDash's certification covers its own hardware and software stack, not just the drone itself. The company is building ground infrastructure and handoff systems alongside the aircraft, Shih said.
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