Menu
Advanced Air Mobility News

Kitty Hawk Closes, Doubles Down on Wisk

by Emily Gu
Kitty Hawk Closes, Doubles Down on Wisk

Kitty Hawk, the air taxi company backed by Google co-founder Larry Page, announced on Twitter on September 22nd that it will close down.

Kitty Hawk, one of several startups working on the concept of an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, was founded in 2010. The company was run by Google senior executive Sebastian Thrun, who worked on projects including Google’s self-driving car.

The company’s initial goal was to build an air taxi that is smaller and lighter than other remotely piloted eVTOLs. In 2018, Kitty Hawk demonstrated the Flyer, a flying car model that could carry one person up to 20 miles.

However, the company entered a strategic partnership with Boeing in 2019 and then announced that it would abandon the Flyer project, and then shifted its focus to a new electric aircraft that it called Heaviside.

Although Kitty Hawk has shut up shop, it’s efforts are likely to be redirected into Wisk – a joint venture that it established with Boeing in 2019.

Although founded in 2019, Wisk can trace its routes back to 2010, when its predecessorZee Aero was formed with the backing of Kitty Hawk co-founder Larry Page.

Boeing says the operations of Wisk will not be affected by Kitty Hawk’s closure.

Related Articles

INDUSTRY REPORTS

© Copyright Asian Sky Group -2024 | All Rights Reserved

Create an account Login