Flying taxi start-up Volocopter loses its CEO

Volocopter CEO Dirk Hoke will step down from his position at the end of February 2025. The start-up’s board of directors has thus complied with Hoke’s wish, as Volocopter announced.

In his two years as head of Volocopter, Hoke managed to stabilize the company technologically and financially, the flying taxi manufacturer said. The company did not name a successor. It is also not clear where Hoke moved to.

At the same time, former Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche, who was previously a member of the Volocopter Advisory Board, took over the leadership of the committee from Stefan Klocke. Klocke is the only member of the committee.

As part of the Olympic Games in Paris, Volocopter recently had its air taxi take off in a media-effective manner – but not with passengers on board as planned.

This is still due to the lack of certification of Volocopter’s eVTOL. Hoke’s top priority is therefore to pursue EASA certification in the next few months until the end of his term of office.

It is also unclear whether Volocopter’s home country changed by the end of Hoke’s time at the company. The start-up has recently been struggling with financial difficulties. Hoke has therefore repeatedly criticized the lack of investment from Germany and flirted with the idea of ​​moving abroad.

Further personnel decisions

In addition to the departure of former Airbus manager Hoke and the move of Zetsche, there is another personnel change at Volocopter: Dr. Zhihao Xu, CEO of the Geely Technology Group, will be a new member of the Supervisory Board.

Majid Mufti, CEO of the “NEOM Investment Fund (NIF)”, will remain a member of the supervisory board. The same applies to Stefan Klocke, who will also remain with the company with his expertise.