DoorDash is launching DoorDash Air, its in-house drone delivery program, after earning Federal Aviation Administration Part 135 air carrier certification. The company said it is the eighth drone operator to achieve the designation.
“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,” Harrison Shih, head of DoorDash Air, said in a statement. “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 Air was developed by DoorDash Labs, the company’s robotics and autonomy team. The drone was designed and built in the U.S., with most of its components made domestically.
The company claims drone deliveries average about 25 minutes. During recent pilot programs with drone partners, participating merchants saw DoorDash order volume grow by about 30 percent, with the increase continuing for nine weeks after launch.
DoorDash is also developing the infrastructure needed to support drone delivery, including inventory reconciliation and handoff systems for drive-thrus, rooftops and merchant back doors.
That includes the recent launch of SmartScale that uses weighing technology and predictive AI to identify incomplete orders before they leave a restaurant. The system can also verify orders before they are loaded onto a drone.
Related: DoorDash CEO Tony Xu Unveils Delivery Robot and SmartScale
DoorDash Air joins the company’s growing list of fulfillment options alongside Dashers and DOT autonomous robots.
