Vertical Aerospace makes leadership appointments - Seite 2

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Founder and Board Member, Vertical Aerospace, said:
“I am immensely proud of all that the team has achieved over the past four years as Vertical leads the world into a new era of electric flight and becomes a British engineering success story. Vertical is now ready to move into an incredibly important phase of development as we begin testing our more advanced, piloted, full-scale prototype, progress towards certification and are preparing for industrialisation.

Stuart’s extensive leadership experience in high growth technology based companies make him incredibly well qualified to lead the company into this next phase and I know he shares my passion to bring the benefits of electric aviation to the world. I look forward to seeing what Vertical is going to achieve under his leadership.”

Stuart Simpson, CEO, Vertical Aerospace, said: “It’s been phenomenal to experience the progress the business has made since I joined, and I could not be more excited to move into this role. I share Stephen’s confidence that our experienced team, technology, and compelling business model of working with leading industry partners position us very well to successfully develop one of the most advanced electric aircraft in the world.

I look forward to working with our formidable team in progressing our path to certification, bringing in additional investment and taking the VX4 to market.”

The changes come as the final assembly of the new generation full-scale VX4 prototype nears completion, with the aircraft on track to begin a robust test flight programme ahead of intended public demonstrations at Farnborough International Airshow and Heathrow Airport later in 2024. This prototype features next generation propellers, will use Vertical’s proprietary battery technology for the first time, and incorporates much more of the company’s leading aerospace partners’ technology.

Mike Flewitt, Chairman of Vertical, said: “Vertical is moving into a really exciting phase of its corporate evolution, and Stuart and Ben are both fantastic appointments to take the business through it. Both have significant strategic and fundraising experience and in their new roles, they will strengthen what is already a very strong team with decades of experience in certifying and bringing new aircraft to market. I look forward to working alongside both and Stephen as we create a new chapter in travel.”