Lilium Aerospace employees’ wait for their January pay looks set to continue for several more days at least, their having in the meantime been told not to come in to work by bosses and instead “go to the mountains”.
Formed to rescue the assets of the insolvent German electric taxi developer of the same name, Lilium Aerospace’s ownership has got off to a rocky start.
January wages were due at the end of last month but, despite repeated promises, the money has not been forthcoming from the new company.
Having failed to pay the workforce again last week, the company held an all-hands meeting on 7 February where staff were told that salaries would not arrive until the middle of the following week.
That was followed on 10 February by an email, seen by FlightGlobal, confirming that wages were still delayed.
“Our investors have clearly indicated that payroll payments are to be processed to employees this week if the final steps of the funding transfer are completed as planned,” it states.
The 10 February meeting was attended by one of the leading investors in Lilium Aerospace, Marian Bocek, who is also the chief executive of InoBat, a Slovakian battery maker which is additionally a supplier to company. He was joined by Roy Tal, from Swiss firm Investment Solutions Partners.
Staff were also addressed by Klaus Roewe, the former chief executive of Lilium NV. However, it is unclear what position Roewe holds at the new company, although he has been tipped to take over the top job.
He advised that staff were not obliged to come to work until they received their pay and should instead “go to the mountains”, according to several people familiar with the meeting.
Lilium Aerospace declined to comment on the latest timeline for payment.
Lilium Aerospace was set up – initially using the name Mobile Uplift Corporation (MUC) – to acquire the assets and operations of Lilium GmbH and Lilium eAircraft GmbH, two subsidiaries of listed company Lilium NV that had entered self-administration in the autumn due to a funding crisis.
Essentially the operating units of Lilium, those two companies were leading the development of the Lilium Jet and were on the verge of closure when what was then MUC stepped in as a buyer. Investors in the business have promised to inject an initial €200 million ($206 million).
