Robinson Aircraft Ltd., doing business as Horizon Aircraft, has announced the expansion of its leadership team with the appointment of seasoned financial aviation executive Brian Merker as Chief Financial Officer.
Merker brings more than 20 years of senior financial management experience to Horizon, spanning both public and private sectors, including 10 years serving in the aviation sector.
Most recently, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Skyservice Business Aviation, supporting their growth efforts in aircraft management, maintenance, fixed-based operations, charter, and brokerage.
Prior to Skyservice Business Aviation, Merker was Vice President of Finance at Discovery Air, a publicly traded company that included a diverse range of aviation related services.
From 2007 to 2012, he served as Vice President of Finance at Score Media, a publicly traded company focused on sports broadcast and technology innovation. Merkler began his career in the KPMG audit practice with significant exposure to SEC registrants at the commencement of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation.
Commenting on his new appointment, he said: “I am delighted to join the exceptionally talented team of design and manufacturing professionals at Horizon Aircraft. I look forward to leveraging my previous chief financial officer responsibilities and experience in aviation to manage a sound financial operation with sharp financial oversight.
“My experience will help support the Company’s growth initiatives and capital deployment plans as Horizon develops its full-scale aircraft and its vision of building a better future.”
Horizon Aircraft is developing one of the world’s first hybrid eVTOL that is to be able to fly most of its mission exactly like a normal aircraft, while offering industry-leading speed, range, and operational utility.
The company hopes to successfully complete testing and certification of its Cavorite X7 eVTOL quickly and then enter the market and service a broad spectrum of early use cases.
Mr Merkler joins Horizon on the back on several key announcements this year. In August 2023, the company and Pono Capital Three, Inc. entered into a proposed business combination in August 2023 to form a combined public company. Upon closing, the newly combined company will trade on the NASDAQ under the symbol “HOVR.”
Horizon also recently secured $6.7 million CAD investment from Canso Council.
Brandon Robinson, Chief Executive Officer at Horizon Aircraft, said: “We are excited to officially welcome Brian to the Horizon Aircraft management team and lead our financial operations into our next stage of growth as we make significant strides towards our public listing.
“Brian’s advanced financial management skills in the public and private markets within the aerospace industry closely tracks with Horizon’s core business. We have successfully executed the manufacturing and design of several sub-scale prototype eVTOL aircraft and with the addition of Brian’s financial acumen, we are well-positioned for a smooth transition of Horizon as a public company and to accelerate our next phase of growth.”
