Joby Completes First-Ever Fully Autonomous Flight Across the United States

Written By Neil Erickson

Santa Cruz-based Joby Aviation has completed what the company says is the first-ever fully autonomous flight across the United States, marking a major milestone for its growing autonomous aviation program.

The aircraft, a converted Cessna Caravan equipped with Joby’s autonomy technology, traveled 3,199 miles from California to North Carolina with zero control inputs from the onboard safety pilot. The system autonomously handled taxiing, takeoff, cruise, route navigation, and landing while being supervised remotely from locations as far as 2,323 miles away.

The coast-to-coast flight concluded in North Carolina’s Outer Banks near Kitty Hawk, the birthplace of powered aviation.

From California to Kitty Hawk

The journey began at Buchanan Field Airport in Concord, California, before taking the aircraft across the country as part of Joby’s 2026 Electric Skies tour.

Stops included Phoenix, Fort Worth, Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, and the Outer Banks in North Carolina.

Along the way, Joby demonstrated the aircraft in a variety of real-world operating environments. The autonomous system navigated busy airports, changing weather conditions, mountainous terrain, and unfamiliar locations.

At Phoenix Deer Valley Airport, one of the busiest general aviation airports in the country, the aircraft integrated into existing air traffic. During the broader journey, the system was also able to reroute around severe weather and thunderstorms in real time.

The flight concluded with an autonomous landing at Dare County Regional Airport and a low pass near the Wright Brothers National Memorial at Kitty Hawk.

More Than an Aviation Milestone

Joby sees autonomous flight technology as having applications well beyond passenger transportation.

Potential uses include commercial freight, medical transportation, disaster response, emergency logistics, and defense missions, particularly in locations where sending a human pilot may be expensive, difficult, or dangerous.

The technology behind the flight comes in part from Xwing, whose autonomy division Joby acquired in 2024.

Joby says the platform has now accumulated more than 400 flights and 800 automated flight hours across controlled and uncontrolled airspace.

The technology has also been tested during multiple U.S. military exercises. During the Air Force’s Agile Flag exercise, an autonomous aircraft using the system transported replacement parts between military bases and public airports, delivering critical components faster than conventional logistics.

Autonomous Aviation Becomes a Bigger Part of Joby

The transcontinental flight comes as Joby expands beyond its core electric air taxi program.

Earlier this month, the company began a coast-to-coast demonstration campaign showcasing both its autonomous logistics technology and electric air taxi operations. At the same time the autonomous aircraft was traveling east, Joby was conducting electric air taxi flights in the Dallas-Fort Worth area under the federal eVTOL Integration Pilot Program.

Joby has also been developing autonomous defense applications. The company recently announced a collaboration with L3Harris Technologies focused on a hybrid vertical takeoff and landing aircraft designed to support both crewed and fully autonomous missions.

For a company founded and headquartered in the Santa Cruz area, the latest milestone puts locally developed aviation technology at the center of a much larger shift toward autonomous flight.

The aircraft will now begin its return trip west, with planned stops including Raleigh, Washington, D.C., Louisville, Wichita, Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City, and Portland.

Read Joby Aviation’s full announcement: Joby Completes First-Ever Fully Autonomous Flight Across the United States

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