Lilium Hires former Rolls-Royce Aerospace Head of Communications

German air taxi company Lilium has added to its team former head of communications at Rolls-Royce Aerospace Oliver Walker-Jones. The team now includes former high-ranking executives from Airbus and Audi, as well as Frank Stephenson, who worked in design at Ferrari, BMW, and MINI.

At Rolls-Royce Aerospace, Walker-Jones’ role included acting on the outward-facing aspect of the company as well as internal communications. At Lilium, he will be responsible for much the same thing, but will also focus on helping the business grow globally. This suggests that Lilium has plans to go global rather than just staying local to Germany.

Concept image of a future Lilium vertiport

The addition of Walker-Jones is important to note as Rolls-Royce is working on its own eVTOL design as well. Mr. Walker-Jones’ speaks to his decision to join Lilium:
“We have the chance to inspire and excite people of all ages and backgrounds across the globe and I can’t wait to make the most of that opportunity.”

“I’m genuinely thrilled to be joining a company of world-class engineers, remarkable designers, and top managers, and I look forward to playing my part in telling the Lilium story.”–Oliver Walker-Jones, new Head of Communications at Lilium and former Head of Communications at Rolls-Royce Aerospace

As a reminder, The Lilium Jet is unique in that it is one of the few eVTOLs propelled by jets. The design features two fixed-wings with a total of thirty-six small ducted jet-fans that can tilt between vertical and horizontal flight, giving the Lilium jet one of the sleekest aesthetics on the market. Lilium will soon face the challenge of launching air taxi services globally with a planned launch of 2025.

The Lilium Jet, which flew its maiden test flight in 2017

Why its important: Prior to the hiring of Walker-Jones, Lilium has also recently hired Mirko Reuter, former Head of Automated Driving at Audi, Jakob Waeschenbach, former Head of Equipment Installation at Airbus, and Frank Stephenson, who worked in design at Ferrari, BMW, and MINI. . With these new hires, Lilium shows that it’s serious about taking on the future of on-demand eVTOL flight, and with so many experienced professionals on board, it has continued to position itself well to lead the industry.