Cleared for Takeoff: Yvonne Winter’s Plan to Make Flying Urban
Yvonne Winter is the COO and Co-Founder of FlyNow Aviation – and a lifelong entrepreneur with a vision for changing how we move through the world. At the helm of one of Europe’s most promising air mobility startups, she’s thinking big.
Raised in the world of small and mid-sized businesses, Winter’s entrepreneurial instincts were shaped early. After years in her family’s logistics company and a career spanning sectors from real estate to tech, she co-founded FlyNow to tackle one of today’s most ambitious goals: bringing net-zero aviation to life.
Today, she’s driving a revolution in the skies with FlyNow’s eCopter – an electric aircraft that challenges everything we assume about flying. It’s small, lightweight, automated, and silent – designed to reduce infrastructure needs and emissions while increasing accessibility. “Most players in the eVTOL sector are still building big, expensive machines,” she explains. “We started by asking what’s really necessary, and stripped away the rest.”
Redefining What’s Possible
The FlyNow eCopter isn’t just a sleek prototype – it’s a fundamentally different approach to air mobility. With a price point of around €350,000, it’s a fraction of the cost of traditional electric aircraft. Designed to carry one or two people (or up to 200kg of cargo), it runs without a pilot, connected instead to a ground station and predefined flight paths. “Think of it like a tram in the sky,” Winter says. “Reliable, safe, and efficient.”
This simplified, scalable design opens the door to a wide range of use cases: urban logistics, emergency response, disaster relief, and even supply chains for remote areas. “It sounds counterintuitive, but in many cases, it will be cheaper and more ecological to fly than to drive,” she explains.
Leadership, the Winter Way
Winter’s leadership philosophy is rooted in trust, clarity, and ambition. “Encourage, enable, leverage the knowledge of every team member – and have high expectations,” she says. At FlyNow, she’s applied this mindset to navigate complex challenges: from funding and regulation to supply chain disruptions during the pandemic.
As a woman in a traditionally male-dominated industry, Winter is often asked how she found her footing. For her, it was never a question. “I grew up in logistics,” she says. “My mother was a tough businesswoman and my biggest role model. The best advice I can give? Follow your heart. And then just do it.”
She’s also realistic about what it takes to succeed – especially in new markets. “If you want to be part of the transformation, especially in a place like Saudi Arabia, be ready to work hard, show up, and walk the talk,” she says.
Looking Ahead
With FlyNow’s first cargo eCopters expected to begin operations by 2027, Winter is already preparing for the next leap. “We’re starting a pilot project in Saudi Arabia this year. We’re hiring, expanding, and bringing this vision to life,” she says.
In her words, FlyNow isn’t just a company – it’s the “Model T of the sky.” A means of transport that’s accessible, sustainable, and built for scale. “I don’t just want to change the way we fly,” she says. “I want to help change the way we live.”