Hyundai Motor Group is shaking up leadership at its $1.7 billion Supernal electric aircraft startup in Irvine following layoffs in July.
The startup, which has paused its aircraft programs to evaluate next steps, has been slow to demonstrate its autonomous flying technology at a test facility at the Mojave Air & Space Port. Meanwhile, rivals have surged ahead with development of their own “electric vertical take-off and landing” aircrafts, or eVTOL.
The South Korean automaker said that Jaiwon Shin resigned Aug. 31 as Supernal’s chief executive officer of Hyundai’s Advanced Air Mobility Division and was moved into an adviser role to help transition new leadership.
Hyundai also is looking at a wide range of candidates in the “global aviation industry” to replace Shin, Supernal spokeswoman Veronica Grigoriou said Friday, Sept. 5.
Shin was formerly the associate administrator for aeronautics with NASA from 2008 to 2019, joined Hyundai Motor Group in late 2019 as an executive vice president, and later was named CEO of Supernal in February 2020 and president of the parent AAM unit in December 2020. He also resigned from his role as president of Hyundai Motor Group.
The changeover comes after Hyundai in July said it was cutting cut 10% of its workforce in California as it shifts toward certifying its aircraft and eventual production. Following the cuts, Supernal has about 500 employees.
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In the transition, David Rottblatt, formerly the senior director in charge of business development who joined Supernal in June 2024, was appointed to interim chief operating officer to oversee operations. Iksoo Chun remains chief financial officer and will work with Rottblatt “to determine the cost effective structure and timing for future operations,” Grigoriou said.
Also gone from the company is high-profile hire David McBride, chief technology officer.
McBride, who joined Supernal from NASA in March 2024, previously worked on several space missions with the space agency’s Flight Research Program. He was tasked with developing a prototype, four-passenger electric vertical takeoff and landing model, which made tethered flight tests in March in Mojave. The test program has been placed on hold.
Tracy L. Lamb, the chief safety and quality officer for Supernal who ensured compliance with industry standards, also left at the end of August, according to Linkedin. She is listed on the website as “open to work” and “actively applying” for another job.
“This leadership transition reflects a sharpened focus on business and operational development,” said Grigoriou in a statement. “While the AAM industry continues to face external challenges — including regulatory frameworks, infrastructure development and ecosystem maturity — Hyundai Motor Group views these as part of the natural evolution of a pioneering sector.”
She said that Hyundai remains confident in the “long-term potential of AAM and will continue investing in building a sustainable business.” Supernal also plans to “appoint new leadership with deep expertise in business operations” to guide the organization into its next phase of growth — including “timeline and aircraft configuration,” according to Grigoriou.
At the end of August, the company, which moved its headquarters to Irvine from Washington, D.C. two years ago, cut about 25 employees at Supernal’s Orange County operations along Laguna Canyon Road and Waterworks Way. The company also laid off 27 workers at its Fremont facility in the Bay Area, and a single employee at the company’s Mojave facility, where a demonstration flight test of Supernal’s electric air taxi technology had been scheduled to take place later this year.
Mojave is located about 100 miles to the north of Los Angeles near Edwards Air Force Base in California’s high desert.
In July 2023, Supernal opened an engineering headquarters in Irvine to research a flying taxi.
Electric taxi concepts lift off vertically and don’t need a runway, creating a niche for air travel in a crowded urban landscape. Once these aircraft take off in the air — like a helicopter — their engines and propellers tilt to fly like an airplane.
Supernal isn’t the only manufacturer working on an electric flying taxi.
Others include San Jose-based Archer Aviation, Santa Cruz-based Joby Aviation and Mountain View-based Wisk Aero, a subsidiary of aerospace giant Boeing Co.