The eVTOL developer Wisk — a joint venture between Kitty Hawk and Boeing — has appointed Eric Johnson as senior vice president of engineering and a member of the company’s executive leadership team.
Johnson comes to Wisk from Boeing NeXt, where he was a chief engineer directing engineering development and product safety for a joint team. He also served as product development chief engineer for the Boeing 777X program and chief engineer and airplane level integration team leader for the 777-8 program, and has held multiple management and engineering positions in airplane safety, electromagnetic effects, flight sciences, flight test, certification and sales.
At Wisk, Johnson will report directly to CEO Gary Gysin. He will be responsible for executing the company’s technical vision and roadmap, overseeing the development of current and future aircraft, and directing Wisk’s software, hardware, systems engineering, flight test, certification and product management teams, the company said.
“Eric brings strong technical and problem-solving skills with a long history in delivering certified platforms to the commercial marketplace,” Gysin stated in a press release. “His demonstrated leadership in innovative aircraft development, integration, certification, testing and customer engagement is a great benefit to us as we move forward.”
Said Johnson: “I’m thrilled to be joining a company that’s shaping the future of the UAM [urban air mobility] space. Wisk’s greatest strengths are its people, its safety-first culture and its commitment to innovation. I’m proud to now be part of the team that will make safe, everyday flight a reality.”
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area and New Zealand, Wisk is developing the two-seat, self-flying Cora eVTOL for passenger-carrying missions. The company has conducted more than 1,300 uncrewed test flights at sites in both New Zealand and California, but expects that Cora will conduct its first passenger-carrying operations in New Zealand, where the company has partnered with that country’s government on an Airspace Integration Trial.
Gysin recently told a Vertical Flight Society webinar that Wisk has also identified a launch city for urban air mobility operations in the U.S., but is not yet ready to reveal it.
