Joby Aviation announced on September 18, 2026 that an aircraft equipped with its autonomy technology has completed the first-ever fully autonomous flight across the United States.

The aircraft, a converted Cessna Caravan, flew 3,199 miles with zero control inputs from its onboard safety pilot, performing autonomous taxiing, takeoffs, route navigation and landings.

The flight was supervised remotely from Joby's Autonomy Headquarters in California and Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, up to 2,323 miles away. It departed Buchanan Field in Concord, California, and concluded in North Carolina's Outer Banks, landing at Dare County Regional Airport near Kitty Hawk.

Joby said the milestone demonstrates the real-world operational maturity of its autonomy technology for commercial freight, medical transport, disaster response and defense logistics.

Source: Joby Aviation