Ken Karklin has left his position as chief executive of Pivotal, the electric flying-car company backed by Google co-founder Larry Page.
Karklin, who had led the company for more than four years, is “pursuing new endeavours”, Pivotal said in a statement announcing the change. No further details were given about his departure.
He will be replaced on an interim basis by Mike Ross, an aviation executive who joined Pivotal’s board in November 2025.
“Leading Pivotal has been the privilege of my career. Together, we’ve moved beyond the promise of light eVTOL and proved it out in practice,” Karklin said.
“This industry has moved past prototypes and press releases; it’s now operating in the real world, under real constraints, with real consequences for the future of Advanced Air Mobility.”
Karklin’s exit comes about two years after Pivotal began selling its Helix aircraft, a single-seat electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle. The company says the aircraft can be flown without a pilot’s licence and is priced from about 200,000 US dollars.
Ross said Karklin’s leadership had been “instrumental” in bringing Pivotal to its current position, adding that the company’s team, priorities and product roadmap would remain unchanged during the transition.
He said he would focus on bringing the fourth-generation Helix to market, while continuing Pivotal’s work on safety, engineering and accessibility.
Pivotal is also developing BlackFly, an aircraft intended for defence and emergency-response applications. Last month, the company said one of the aircraft was used during an emergency response in North Carolina, arriving 20 minutes before an ambulance travelling to the same call.
The company says BlackFly has completed more than 10,000 flights. Pivotal is among the eVTOL companies selected for the US Federal Aviation Administration’s Integration Pilot Programme, which is intended to expand testing of the aircraft across the country.
