Pivotal CEO leaves as Helix enters its fourth generation

Pivotal CEO Ken Karklin left the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) company on August 31, 2026, as the U.S. aircraft maker prepares to bring its fourth-generation Helix to market. Board member Mike Ross became interim CEO effective the same day and will continue serving on Pivotal’s board while the company searches for a permanent replacement.

The company described Karklin’s departure as a move to “new endeavors,” without providing a reason. The transition comes after more than four years under Karklin and roughly two years after Pivotal began selling its first lightweight electric personal aircraft, the single-seat Helix. The aircraft starts at around $200,000 and does not require a pilot’s license to fly, according to the company’s announcement.

Pivotal says its current priorities and roadmap are unchanged. Its next production aircraft is still described as something it is bringing to market rather than a model already broadly available.

“Ken’s leadership over the past four years has been instrumental in bringing Pivotal to where it is today. Our team, our priorities, and our roadmap remain steady through this transition. I’ve had the honor of working closely with Ken as a Board member and watching Pivotal’s disciplined approach to safety, engineering, and accessibility deliver on the vision of electric VTOL flight. I look forward to working with the team and guiding the company forward as we bring our fourth-generation Helix aircraft to market.”

Ross brings an aviation, defense and autonomy background to the interim role. He most recently led Global Aviation Data at Jeppesen ForeFlight after joining Boeing Digital Aviation Solutions, where he helped launch its uncrewed and advanced-air-mobility group. Before that, he held product leadership roles at Skydio and Samsara. He is a retired U.S. Navy commander, fighter pilot and test pilot, and served as deputy director of the Joint Reserve Detachment at the Defense Innovation Unit.

From BlackFly flights to emergency response

Pivotal’s operational claim concerns the BlackFly rather than the Helix. The company says its BlackFly V3.3, a third-generation eVTOL, has exceeded 10,000 flights. It also says one BlackFly became the first eVTOL aircraft to respond to a 911 call, arriving 20 minutes before an ambulance traveling to the same call.

That emergency response took place in North Carolina in August 2026, according to the reporting around the announcement. The supplied material identifies a single response and does not provide the route, distance, weather, flight duration or operating conditions used to calculate the 20-minute advantage. It does not indicate that BlackFly aircraft are replacing ambulances.

The BlackFly is aimed at defense and first-responder missions, while Pivotal positions the Helix for recreation and short-hop commuting as well as broader civilian powered-lift use. Both belong to Pivotal’s light-eVTOL product family, which uses a tilt-aircraft architecture. The aircraft take off and land vertically, so they don’t need a runway; the release does not provide motor power, battery capacity, range, payload, speed or charging specifications.

The company says its architecture and technology platform have been under development for more than a decade. It also describes itself as the first light-eVTOL original-equipment manufacturer to achieve AS9100D certification, an aerospace quality-management certification. Those manufacturing and certification claims address production discipline, not the missing operating specifications that a buyer would need to assess the Helix against other aircraft.

What is known about the next Helix

Pivotal has not supplied a ship date, updated price, production volume or detailed specification sheet for the fourth-generation Helix in the announcement. The currently disclosed entry price—around $200,000—applies to the Helix described as having gone on sale in January 2024; the company has not said whether the fourth-generation model will use the same price.

The company says it has built demand across three verticals, matured its manufacturing operation and expanded its product line with Helix. The release does not include order totals, delivered-aircraft counts, revenue, funding or profitability figures. It also does not say how many fourth-generation aircraft are planned or whether existing Helix customers will have an upgrade path.

Pivotal is participating as a team member in the Multistate Collaborative eIPP led by PennDOT, which was selected by the Federal Aviation Administration for the eVTOL Integration Pilot Program. The FAA program is part of the company’s U.S. operating context, but the announcement does not give a launch date or specific operating permissions for Pivotal aircraft under the program.

Karklin’s statement framed the leadership change as a transition from demonstration to deployment:

“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; building out demand across three verticals, maturing our manufacturing, and expanding our product line with Helix. 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. As I turn to new endeavors, I do so knowing the foundation we built here will help carry this industry forward.”

The fourth-generation Helix’s final specifications, price and delivery schedule remain unanswered for U.S. buyers.