Eviation Lays Off Most of Staff and Pauses Operations

A seemingly promising electric aircraft start-up, Eviation, has been overcome by financial struggles and is pausing operations indefinitely. In its 10 years of business, the company managed to develop and fly a zero-emissions airplane.

Eviation was founded in Israel back in 2015 before moving most of its operations to Arlington, Washington. There, it finalized the development of its fully electric Alice aircraft and sent it up for its maiden flight on September 27, 2022, in Moses Lake.

Alice was designed to reduce emissions and operating costs for regional air travel, including commuter and cargo markets. Cape Air, Global Crossing Airlines, and DHL Express had all confirmed orders, totaling 137 planes, by its first flight. Eviation hoped to get Alice into service by 2027.

While the first flight was able to validate Eviation’s zero-emissions design, things quickly began to take a downturn for the start-up. The company gradually shrunk from 120 employees in 2022 to 70 last year. In early 2025, Eviation was holding on to just 30 workers.

Unfortunately, securing long-term funding and investors is not an easy task for most sustainable start-ups, especially those that lack a direct tie to commercial applications. Eviation became the latest victim of this plague in early February, forcing it to indefinitely pause operations. Alongside the halt were numerous layoffs that cut Eviation’s workforce to practically zero.

“We were all invested in the program. We hoped until the last moment that it would succeed,” expressed one of the laid-off employees. “Very few folks are left.”

Some have speculated that Eviation is simply winding down its US operation and moving back out to Asia due to pressure from investors, but the company has yet to address the rumor. Eviation has also not publicly spoken about its operational pause.

Just days before news of Eviation’s breakdown came out, electric air taxi developer Lilium revealed that it may be moving into insolvency… again. Lilium also lacked funding and announced that it was filing for insolvency in October 2024 but was saved by a team of investors with a $200 million check. However, the funds have yet to come through, and Lilium could be starting the insolvency process for a second time.

FMI: www.eviation.com