FAA clears Skyways to fly autonomous aircraft from Louisiana coast to offshore Shell platform
Co-founder Charles Acknin's Austin company will use a V2 aircraft to inspect a Shell pipeline route and simulate a delivery to a Gulf platform.
By Ryan Merket · Published
Primary source: PR Newswire Business Technology
Why it matters
The authorization gives Skyways a specific FAA-cleared route from the Louisiana coast to offshore infrastructure, pairing pipeline inspection with a simulated delivery in one flight. A successful mission would give the Austin cargo-drone company operating history under a U.S. high-seas framework that future paid inspection and cargo flights could build on.
The Federal Aviation Administration said on November 9th, 2026, that it had issued the first authorization of its kind for a drone to fly beyond the operator's visual line of sight from the U.S. coastline over the Gulf of America. The operator is Skyways, the Austin autonomous aircraft company co-founded by Charles Acknin and Chris Craighill.…
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