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The CEO of a flying car company backed by Larry Page has left the company.<\/p>\n
Ken Karklin, who was Pivotal\u2019s CEO for more than four years, left the role this week, according to a press release<\/a>. Pivotal said Karklin is \u201cpursuing new endeavors\u201d but didn\u2019t offer any other information about the executive\u2019s departure from the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) firm.<\/p>\n \u201cLeading Pivotal has been the privilege of my career. Together, we\u2019ve moved beyond the promise of light eVTOL and proved it out in practice,\u201d Karklin said in a statement. \u201cThis industry has moved past prototypes and press releases; it\u2019s now operating in the real world, under real constraints, with real consequences for the future of Advanced Air Mobility. As I turn to new endeavors, I do so knowing the foundation we built here will help carry this industry forward.\u201d <\/p>\n Karklin will be replaced on an interim basis by Mike Ross, an aviation executive who joined Pivotal\u2019s board of directors in November 2025. Karklin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Karklin\u2019s departure comes two years after Pivotal started sales of Helix<\/a>, its first lightweight electric personal aircraft. The single-seat aircraft doesn\u2019t require a pilot\u2019s license to fly and starts at around $200,000. <\/p>\n \u201cKen\u2019s leadership over the past four years has been instrumental in bringing Pivotal to where it is today. Our team, our priorities, and our roadmap remain steady through this transition,\u201d Ross said in a statement. \u201cI\u2019ve had the honor of working closely with Ken as a Board member and watching Pivotal\u2019s disciplined approach to safety, engineering, and accessibility deliver on the vision of electric VTOL flight. I look forward to working with the team and guiding the company forward as we bring our fourth-generation Helix aircraft to market.\u201d<\/p>\n Pivotal has also spent years developing an aircraft called BlackFly that is aimed at defense and first responder use cases. Last month, BlackFly was used to respond to an emergency<\/a> in North Carolina for the first time ever. The company says it beat an ambulance responding in parallel to the call by 20 minutes. BlackFly has flown more than 10,000 times, according to Pivotal.<\/p>\n Pivotal is one of a number of companies in the space that was selected for the Federal Aviation Administration\u2019s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program<\/a>, which was created to increase testing of these types of aircraft around the country. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n