Volocopter CEO Hoke Leaves, Zetsche Appointed Chairman

Advanced air mobility startup Volocopter is entering a crucial phase in its history: getting certification of the VoloCity two-seat multicopter across the finish line, seeking fresh funding and now also finding a new CEO who can move the aircraft from testing into the production phase.

Volocopter confirmed Sept. 3 that current CEO Dirk Hoke will leave the company in February 2025. Also, Stefan Klocke, the current Chairman of the Advisory Board, is stepping down from his position and is replaced by Dieter Zetsche, the former CEO of Daimler-Benz. Zetsche has been on Volocopter’s board as a regular member.

“The board has accepted Dirk Hoke’s request to step down from his position as CEO at the end of February 2025,” Volocopter said. “Over the past two years, he has succeeded in stabilizing the company technologically and financially despite a difficult investment market environment. Important entrepreneurial structures and processes have been established in the start-up that will continue to shape the company in the future.”

“In my career, I have never experienced such a dynamic company development in this short space of time,” Hoke said. “I am firmly convinced that the setup we have achieved puts us in the best possible position for the successful commercialization of Volocopter.” He did not say why he chose to leave. Volocopter said Hoke’s successor will be appointed “in due course.”

Hoke’s departure is a huge blow for Volocopter. The former CEO of Airbus Defense and Space business is a high-profile figure in aerospace with a vast network in the business. He left Airbus after not having been chosen as CEO of the group and joined the AAM startup in what had been seen as a surprise move back in September 2022. Hoke’s appointment gave Volocopter a credibility boost earlier on in its development, but his departure a little over two years later and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification not yet completed raises more questions about the company’s future.

Volocopter has postponed VoloCity certification several times and is now targeting the beginning of 2025. Its public flight display at the Paris summer Olympics had to be scaled down. Among other things, Volocopter only flew the 2X technology demonstrator rather than the production version of the aircraft, contrary to initial plans and with deliveries of the latest standard engines delayed. It also could not carry paying passengers since it had not reached certification yet.

Hoke’s time at Volocopter has also been overshadowed by massive questions over the company’s financial viability. Earlier this year, Hoke warned publicly that Volocopter may have to file for bankruptcy with no government loan guarantees approved and private investors having become much more cautious about putting money into risky start-ups. Ultimately, Volocopter’s existing shareholders agreed to a fresh funding round in June that would be split into several instalments and completed in the fourth quarter. Volocopter said at the time that the funding will carry it through certification, then planned before the end of 2024.

As the new Chairman, Zetsche has a complicated task: Finding a new CEO replacing Hoke and securing fresh funding amid the management uncertainty. Then, production will have to be ramped up and development spending for a larger four-seat version will also have to rise.

Speaking to Aviation Week, SMG Consulting analyst Sergio Cecutta said that the departures of Hoke and Klocke could signal trouble on the horizon for Volocopter.

“A CEO departure for a startup is not a good sign, especially for a company in the midst of a delayed development,” Cecutta says. “The fact that also the chairman of the board is leaving could be a vote of no confidence on the leadership from the major shareholders or a sign of trouble ahead. It is a great loss for the company as Dirk is a leader that brought process and focus on the product line and future development.”