ZeroAvia faces more uncertainty as CEO Miftakhov steps down

CEO Val Miftakhov’s departure follows a tumultuous period that included staff cuts in the USA and UK.

The chief executive and founder of hydrogen-propulsion developer ZeroAvia left the company on 26 May, a move that comes several months after the firm made sweeping layoffs and adjusted its development plans amid funding constraints.

CEO Val Miftakhov stepped down “to pursue new opportunities”, the start-up said on 29 May. “Miftakhov will remain on the company’s board of directors, where he will continue to support ZeroAvia’s mission and long-term strategy.”

ZeroAvia, which has US and UK operations, says that executive chair Christine Ourmieres-Widener will temporarily oversee “day-to-day operations” while the company’s board will search for a successor.

“We are grateful that [Miftakhov] will continue to lend his insight and support as a director,” says ZeroAvia’s board. “We are also fortunate to have Christine’s steady leadership to guide the team through this transition, and we are confident in the company’s trajectory.”

ZeroAvia did not respond to a request for additional information about the departure of Miftakhov, who founded the firm in 2018. He could not immediately be reached for comment.

“Building ZeroAvia from an idea into a company at the forefront of sustainable aviation has been the privilege of a lifetime,” Miftakhov says in a ZeroAvia statement. “I am incredibly proud of what this team has accomplished, and I remain fully committed to ZeroAvia’s success. I look forward to continuing to contribute as a member of the board as the company enters its next chapter.”

ZeroAvia has been developing hydrogen-propulsion systems such as the 600kW ZA600 hydrogen fuel cell powertrain, which is initially planned to power a modified Cessna Caravan. Until recently, ZeroAvia had aimed to have the ZA600 certificated in 2027, which was already substantially later than previously anticipated.

But last year the company underwent several rounds of sweeping layoffs that eliminated workers at its Propulsion Center of Excellence in Everett, Washington. FlightGlobal also reported an exodus of staff from ZeroAvia’s UK operation, which includes facilities in Sandwich in Kent and Kemble in Gloucestershire. Employees to depart those sites included senior airworthiness engineers and workers specialising in design, marketing, communications, research and development.

In all, ZeroAvia lost about half its workforce. It attributed the cuts to a cash-conservation push.

The company secured its immediate financial future after closing a funding round for an undisclosed sum late last year.

Then in January, ZeroAvia tweaked its development plan, saying it now only intends to secure certification for its fuel cell system (also called a power-generation system) in 2027, rather than the complete ZA600 powertrain. As a result, the ZA600’s approval would slip another 12-24 months, depending on future funding, the company said.

The company also delayed, by a similar period, expected certification of its 2MW-class ZA2000 system, which is intended to power larger aircraft.

In March, the US Federal Aviation Administration published “special conditions” for ZeroAvia’s ZA601. Special conditions are modified airworthiness standards applicable to products for which existing standards do not apply; they are the standards a product must meet to achieve certification.