Rotorcraft
Vertical Flight Society Assesses eVTOL Market Churn
The developing advanced air mobility sector has seen consolidation of late.
Mike Hirschberg, VFS
Mike Hirschberg, the Vertical Flight Society’s director of strategy and former executive director, © Mariano Rosales/AIN

The Vertical Flight Society (VFS) addressed the recent shakeups in the eVTOL aircraft sector during a session at the Verticon trade show in Dallas on March 10. Several high-profile players in the nascent market are either being sold at fire sale prices or being forced to throw in the towel altogether after running out of funds.

According to Mike Hirschberg, the group’s director of strategy and former executive director, “The last several months has resulted in several companies now in insolvency.” He specifically noted Volocopter’s breaking announcement that a Chinese company has agreed to buy it for €10 million—an amount he described as essentially nothing—as it ran out of funding needed to cross the certification finish line after 15 years of development.