By Justin Davis, Drone Camps RC · October 6, 2026
DoorDash has pulled back the curtain on its own delivery drone. The company unveiled DoorDash Air, a purpose-built aircraft paired with restaurant loading infrastructure that plugs into its existing delivery marketplace. A pilot program is underway in Northern California.
The aircraft was designed around the realities of restaurant food: size, weight, and speed. DoorDash estimates about 80 percent of typical restaurant orders are light and small enough for the aircraft to carry. Early testing produced average delivery times of under five minutes from restaurant to customer door, though the company notes those figures come from limited distances and order sizes.
Noise has been one of the biggest neighborhood complaints about delivery drones, and DoorDash clearly got the memo. The new aircraft uses six slow-spinning propellers positioned away from the airframe's arms to cut noise. At cruising altitude, the company says its sound is comparable to a passing car.
The pilot's first restaurant partners include Chipotle Mexican Grill, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, and Momo N Curry. The program builds on DoorDash's existing drone strategy — the company has already completed tens of thousands of drone deliveries through operators including Wing and Flytrex, and launched DoorDash Air in-house in July after DoorDash Labs earned FAA Part 135 air carrier certification.
