The secretive flying car startup promised to bring personal flying to the masses. But those hopes have failed to take wing amid breakdowns and safety issues with its Flyer aircraft, former employees tell Forbes. Meanwhile, a partnership with Boeing on its Cora air taxi goes deeper than announced.
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Two years later, however, Kitty Hawk’s promise to bring personal flying to the masses has failed to take wing yet amid technical problems and safety issues with Flyer and unresolved questions about its practical use, according to four former Kitty Hawk employees who were among six who spoke toon the condition of anonymity due to non-disclosure agreements. At the same time, it may have given up control of Cora, sources suggest.
Daver did not directly comment on reports of employee departures, but said employees at Kitty Hawk are required to report safety-related issues to their managers, or through a confidential digital channel directly to the general counsel and human resources, and can anonymously discuss safety concerns with an external safety director.
“We have moved to seeing it as a transportation service and not as a vehicle for individual purchase,” said Daver. “It is going to be a ride sharing model for transportation services.” Eventually Kitty Hawk, which went on to absorb Zee.Aero, embarked on a mission to be the first to get an electric passenger aircraft to market that could take off and land vertically. Thrun wanted a small team to work fast and creatively, using as many off-the-shelf components as possible, according to former employees. “The term thrown around was we were the cowboys of Kitty Hawk, we were doing crazy stuff,” says one.
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