Food delivery customers could soon see their meals arrive by air—literally at their doorstep.
DoorDash introduced its latest initiative Wednesday: DoorDash Air, an “end-to-end drone delivery system with infrastructure and delivery orchestration designed to scale for all local businesses.”
The announcement came exactly one year after the food delivery company unveiled Dot, its ground-based delivery robot.
DoorDash plans to begin testing drone deliveries in Northern California in the coming months, working with national restaurant chains including Chipotle and Popeyes.
The drone delivery program is designed to address what DoorDash considers the most difficult part of autonomous delivery: the first and last 10 feet. Collecting an order from a restaurant kitchen and placing it securely at a customer’s door are among the most challenging stages of the delivery process, the company said.
During preliminary trials, DoorDash recorded average delivery times of less than five minutes from the restaurant to the customer’s home.
According to DoorDash, 80% of typical restaurant orders placed through its platform are light and compact enough to be transported safely by the aircraft.
“We didn’t start with a drone and ask what would fit. We started with what people order and how local businesses actually operate, then built the entire system from there,” Harrison Shih, head of DoorDash Air, wrote in the company’s announcement.
DoorDash co-founder Stanley Tang has also been regularly promoting the technology on X. Addressing the company’s ground-up approach, Tang wrote: “As a pilot, I can tell you that you wouldn’t build a plane and then ask if it can carry cargo.”
FIND OUT MORE: Trump Says Iran ‘Outsmarted Themselves’ After Rejecting Ceasefire
The aircraft use six slow-spinning propellers. DoorDash claims their noise at delivery height is limited to roughly the sound level of a passing car.
The launch comes just over a month after Amazon began testing Amazon Prime Air in Texas. Some residents in the test areas criticized the drones for being too loud, comparing their sound to a “giant hive of bees.”
DoorDash says its drones weigh less than 55 pounds, while Amazon’s aircraft weigh approximately 78 pounds, according to the companies.
DoorDash said more local businesses are offering delivery through its app, while customers continue to embrace the service.
“As that demand for local commerce continues to grow, offering even more modes of delivery will help local businesses of all sizes connect with consumers,” the company wrote.
DoorDash also shared comments from several businesses that already use its delivery platform.
“Our fans want their food hot and fast, and we believe DoorDash Air will deliver on that without asking our restaurant teams to change a thing,” wrote James Huang, chief digital officer for Popeyes. “The same crews making our chicken today just hand it off the way they always have and the drone does the rest.”
Alongside the new drone delivery option, DoorDash has updated its app so customers can see when their orders take flight.
