John “Skippy” DeLeeuw
John DeLeeuw is a 787 pilot for American Airlines (AA), and served recently as the Senior Manager of Flight Safety at American Airlines for over five years. He addressed several safety data assurance programs such as Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA), Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP), and Line Operations Safety Audit (LOSA) as integral elements within the Safety Management System (SMS) at AA.
He was responsible for the Flight, Cabin, Maintenance, and Dispatch ASAP, as well as the FOQA program at American Airlines. His team assisted in managing the Corporate Safety Department’s efforts to support American Airlines’ commitment to be the world leader in airline safety. His team also interfaced with all AA departments to proactively identify and develop strategies and practices to prevent accidents and incidents. John acted as the American Airlines’ liaison with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Department of Defense (DOD) and served as the Party Coordinator for a number of NTSB investigations. John also served as the Chairman of the Airlines for America (A4A) Flight Safety Committee.
Prior to his management position at American Airlines, John was the Deputy Chairman of the National Safety Committee at the Allied Pilots Association (APA). He implemented several safety initiatives benefitting the 15,000 American Airlines pilots, and secured assistance during incidents and accidents for AA crew members throughout the world.
John is also the Vice-President of Safety for OPES SG, where he is applying lessons learned from commercial aviation to the oil and gas industry, which will help improve both efficiency and safety. He is actively promoting ASAP, which is the voluntary safety/efficiency reporting system that has proven to be very successful in the aviation industry, and human factors.
Prior to flying at American Airlines, John was a C-130 Evaluator and Instructor Pilot in the United States Air Force. He participated in Desert Storm and numerous classified Special Operations throughout the world. John worked directly with US Army Special Forces and Navy SEALS flying HALO airdrops, and flying insertions/extractions in combat and covert operations.
John earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration (cum laude) from the University of Arizona and his Masters in Operations Management (summa cum laude) from the University of Arkansas. He earned his Aviation Safety and Security Certificate from the University of Southern California, Viterbi School of Engineering.
John has flying experience with several commercial aircraft: Boeing 787, MD-80, Boeing 727. He has amassed 17000+ accident and incident free flight hours.
John is also currently a SMS instructor at the University of Southern California’s Aviation Safety and Security School, and also serves as a member on the Board of Directors of the American Airlines Credit Union.