Pivotal CEO Ken Karklin leaves company — TechCrunch
Pivotal CEO Ken Karklin has left the company, which develops electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft and is backed by Larry Page. As TechCrunch reports, Karklin led the company for more than four years and stepped down this week.
Pivotal said that Karklin will pursue new projects but provided no other details about his departure. Karklin himself did not respond to TechCrunch's request for comment.
Interim leader
Aviation executive Mike Ross will temporarily lead the company. He joined Pivotal's board of directors in November 2025.
Ross said that Pivotal's team, priorities and development plan remain unchanged during the leadership transition. According to him, he will work with the team to bring the fourth-generation Helix aircraft to market.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Karklin's departure comes two years after sales began for Helix, Pivotal's first lightweight personal electric aircraft. The single-seat aircraft does not require a pilot's license to fly, and its starting price is about $200,000.
Helix and BlackFly
Pivotal has also been developing the BlackFly aircraft for defense organizations and emergency response services for several years. Last month, BlackFly was used for the first time to respond to an emergency in North Carolina.
According to Pivotal, BlackFly arrived at the call 20 minutes earlier than an ambulance traveling in parallel. The company also claims that the aircraft has completed more than 10,000 flights.
Pivotal became one of the companies selected for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's eVTOL integration program. It was created to expand testing of such aircraft in the United States.
