SANTA CRUZ, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 18, 2026--
Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE: JOBY) today announced that an aircraft equipped with its autonomy technology has completed the first-ever autonomous flight across the United States. The aircraft flew 3,199 miles with zero control inputs from its onboard safety pilot, concluding the eastbound leg of its month-long tour in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, near the site of the Wright brothers’ first powered flight.
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The aircraft, a converted Cessna Caravan, performed autonomous taxiing, takeoffs, route navigation, and landings under remote supervision from Joby’s Autonomy Headquarters in California and Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, up to 2,323 miles away. The journey demonstrated the operational capabilities of Joby’s autonomy technology across a range of environments, supporting applications in commercial freight, medical transport, disaster response, and defense logistics.
By integrating an autonomous system onto an already-certified airframe, Joby offers a scalable path to autonomous air logistics. During the cross-country journey, the aircraft proved its ability to seamlessly integrate into high-density environments like Phoenix Deer Valley, one of the nation’s busiest general aviation airports, while rerouting around severe weather and thunderstorms in real time without prior airport familiarity.
“This journey across America offers a glimpse into a new era of aviation,” said JoeBen Bevirt, Founder and CEO of Joby Aviation. “Autonomy has an important role to play in the future of flight, allowing us to connect remote communities, deliver critical supplies, respond faster to disasters, support military operations, and keep pilots out of harm’s way.”
Completed Eastbound Milestones
As part of Joby’s 2026 Electric Skies tour, the eastbound leg featured flight demonstrations, logistics showcases, and key operational milestones across the following stops:
Honoring Aviation History at Kitty Hawk & Expanding Remote Access
Following its transcontinental arrival, the J208 flew a historic low pass near the First Flight Monument at Kitty Hawk, honoring the site where Orville and Wilbur Wright ushered in the age of powered flight in 1903. The aircraft then landed at Dare County Regional Airport (KMQI), demonstrating how flexible, lower-cost autonomous flights can expand point-to-point air logistics and deliver critical medical supplies and emergency freight to remote, underserved communities.
In North Carolina, flights supported NCDOT's eLIFT-NC initiative for statewide healthcare logistics, while western flights contributed to UDOT's multi-state uFLY coalition to evaluate high-altitude, extreme-environment airspace integration for the FAA.
Proven Operational Track Record
Joby’s autonomous technology is grounded in more than 400 flights and 800 automated flight hours in controlled and uncontrolled airspace, building on the mature autonomy stack acquired from Xwing in 2024. The system has also been proven in three major U.S. military exercises, including Air Force readiness exercise Agile Flag, where it delivered critical replacement parts 24 hours faster than conventional logistics, and REFORPAC, where aircraft in Hawaii were operated remotely from Guam, nearly 4,000 miles away.
The aircraft will now begin its return westbound journey, including stops in Raleigh (KRDU), Fredericksburg/Washington, D.C. (KRMN), Louisville (KSDF), Wichita (KICT), Oklahoma City (KOKC), Salt Lake City (KSLC), and Portland (KPDX).
Media Availability & B-Roll: High-resolution video footage of the coast-to-coast flight and photos of coast-to-coast stops, including the Outer Banks landing, are accessible here.
About Joby Aviation
Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE: JOBY) is a next-generation aviation company based in California. Its aircraft, propulsion and autonomy technologies span both commercial aviation and defense applications. Joby also operates Blade, a leading urban air mobility business providing passenger transportation services in the United States and Europe. Joby intends to operate its fast, quiet and convenient air taxi service in cities around the world and sell its aircraft to other operators and partners. To learn more, visit www.jobyaviation.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding the development and performance of our aircraft, our regulatory outlook, progress and timing; our planned operations including locations of future demonstration flights; our business plan, objectives, goals and market opportunity; and our current expectations relating to our business, financial condition, results of operations, prospects, capital needs and growth of our operations. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as “anticipate”, “estimate”, “expect”, “project”, “plan”, “intend”, “believe”, “may”, “will”, “should”, “can have”, “likely” and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of the timing or nature of future operating or financial performance or other events. All forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including: our ability to launch our air taxi service and the growth of the urban air mobility market generally; our ability to produce aircraft that meet our performance expectations in the volumes and on the timelines that we project; the competitive environment in which we operate; our future capital needs; our ability to adequately protect and enforce our intellectual property rights; our ability to effectively respond to evolving regulations and standards relating to our aircraft; our reliance on third-party suppliers and service partners; uncertainties related to our estimates of the size of the market for our service and future revenue opportunities; and other important factors discussed in the section titled “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 27, 2026, our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed with the SEC on May 6, 2026, and in future filings and other reports we file with or furnish to the SEC. Any such forward-looking statements represent management’s estimates and beliefs as of the date of this release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change.
Joby Aviation’s autonomous J208 aircraft shown in flight during key milestones of its historic 3,199-mile transcontinental journey across America. (Clockwise from top left) Departing the Pacific coast near Concord, CA (KCCR); flying over the San Francisco Bay Area skyline; navigating high-altitude mountain terrain across the American West; and completing a low pass past Bodie Island Lighthouse in North Carolina’s Outer Banks near Kitty Hawk. (Photo: Joby Aviation)
