Boeing and Kitty Hawk Form Strategic Partnership

Defence Industry
Cora, an air taxi designed and built by Kitty Hawk Corporation of Mountain View, California, combines electric power, self-piloting software and vertical take-off. (Kitty Hawk photo)

CHICAGO AND MOUNTAIN VIEW. Boeing and Kitty Hawk Corporation today announced a strategic partnership to collaborate on future efforts to advance safe urban air mobility. The strategic partnership will bring together the innovation of Kitty Hawk’s Cora division with Boeing’s scale and aerospace expertise.

“Working with a company like Kitty Hawk brings us closer to our goal of safely advancing the future of mobility,” said Steve Nordlund, vice president and general manager of Boeing NeXt, an organization that is laying the foundation for a next-generation mobility ecosystem in which autonomous and piloted vehicles can safely coexist. “We have a shared vision of how people, goods and ideas will be transported in the future, as well as the safety and regulatory ecosystem that will underpin that transportation.”

“Kitty Hawk was started to advance technology in flight and bring new innovations to life,” said Sebastian Thrun, Co-founder and CEO of Kitty Hawk. “I am excited about our companies working together to accelerate making safe electric flight a reality.”

The agreement with Kitty Hawk Corp. is part of Boeing’s disciplined, long-term strategy of entering into value-added partnerships that enhance and accelerate growth and deliver key differentiators for customers.

Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading provider of commercial airplanes, defense, space and security systems, and global services. As the top U.S. exporter, the company supports commercial and government customers in more than 150 countries. Boeing employs more than 150,000 people worldwide and leverages the talents of a global supplier base. Building on a legacy of aerospace leadership, Boeing continues to lead in technology and innovation, deliver for its customers and invest in its people and future growth.

Kitty Hawk Corp., headquartered in Mountain View, California, builds electric transportation solutions to free people from traffic and decrease carbon footprint. The company gets its name from the beaches of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina where the Wright Brothers took flight for the first time in 1903. The company’s portfolio of vehicles includes Cora, a two-person air taxi and Flyer, a vehicle for personalized flight.