DoorDash says the FAA granted it Part 135 air carrier certification to operate a drone delivery service and it plans to launch drone deliveries in the fall
DoorDash Inc. is building its own delivery drones and has gained the necessary approvals to operate them commercially …
BloombergNatalie Lung
Context & Ripple Effects
DoorDash previously tested U.S. drone delivery through Alphabet’s Wing, following its use of Wing’s service with merchants in Australia. Its earlier Wing partnership made drones a delivery-channel experiment rather than an in-house aviation operation.
Part 135 certification changes that posture: DoorDash can move toward operating a commercial drone service while building its own aircraft. The development matters because FAA approvals have been a gating factor for operators including Wing, Zipline, and Flytrex.
First-order effects
DoorDash can proceed with its planned fall drone-delivery launch under its own FAA air-carrier authorization, rather than relying solely on a third-party drone operator.
Building and operating its own drones gives DoorDash more direct control over the delivery service’s aircraft and operating model.
Second-order effects
The move reduces the strategic importance of a partner-only model for DoorDash, even if outside operators remain useful for testing or local expansion.
Other delivery platforms and drone operators face a clearer incentive to pair merchant demand with certified flight operations; regulatory authorization becomes a more visible competitive requirement.
Third-order effects
If more delivery marketplaces become certified operators, last-mile competition could shift from simply aggregating merchants and couriers toward owning or tightly controlling specialized delivery infrastructure.
The pace of that shift will depend on whether certified drone operations can expand beyond initial launches while meeting the operational constraints that have shaped prior U.S. drone services.
The trend: Drone delivery is evolving from partner-led pilots into a potential in-house logistics capability for large delivery marketplaces.
DoorDash Air is here. Officially certified drone operator in the US. Delivering real orders, not demos “People come here because they want to solve real problems and see their work show up in the real world within days, not stuck in R&D hell watching a demo that never leaves the …
There's a medieval peasant fantasy called the Land of Cockaigne, where food was endless and roast geese flew through the air into your mouth. A peasant watching a drone lower a hot chicken into a garden would conclude we had built it. [image]
Our new @USDOT @FAANews Part 135 certification authorizes DoorDash to operate as an air carrier - no travel plans of your own required. 😉 We'll have more to share later this year on the aircraft, but for now, learn more here: https://about.doordash.com/...
Drones are just one delivery option DoorDash Labs built to scale delivery for merchants, alongside Dashers, Dot, and our autonomous delivery partners. Everything from the aircraft to the merchant handoff system have been designed to get your orders to you quickly and safely. 🛍️
DoorDash is building its own drone delivery business “called DoorDash Air, after receiving a Part 135 air carrier certification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration”
People in SF take Waymo or Zoox every day. When in London, the cars get photographed. In Paris, I still hear people say that 'autonomous cars don't work' …
@DoorDash In other words, Doordash lost so much money from their own part-time delivery staff stealing food and restaurants having to remake orders that it was rendered to be cheaper in the long run to build an entire autonomous drone delivery warehouse and airport, all in one