Joby Aviation announced on September 18, 2026 that an aircraft equipped with its autonomy technology completed what the company describes as the first 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.

The journey included autonomous taxiing, takeoffs, route navigation and landings, supervised remotely from Joby's Autonomy Headquarters in California and Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, up to 2,323 miles away.

The eastbound leg concluded in North Carolina's Outer Banks near the site of the Wright brothers' first powered flight, with a low pass near the First Flight Monument at Kitty Hawk before landing at Dare County Regional Airport.

Joby said the milestone demonstrates the operational maturity of its autonomy technology for applications including commercial freight, medical transport, disaster response and defense logistics. The company's autonomy system is grounded in more than 400 flights and 800 automated flight hours, building on technology acquired from Xwing in 2024.

Source: Joby Aviation