Lee Moak

Lee Moak (born April 20, 1957) is a government relations and public affairs consultant and one of the founders of The Moak Group, a public affairs, advocacy, and business consulting firm located in Washington, DC. Before joining Delta Air Lines and working his way up to a B-767 captain, Moak served multiple tours as a Marine Corps and Navy fighter pilot, and has most recently served as President of the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), the world’s largest non-governmental aviation safety organization^[1]

Current Positions

The Moak Group (2015- present)

Moak is a co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Moak Group, a public affairs, advocacy, and business consulting firm located in Washington, DC.^[2]

Americans For Fair Skies (2015- present)

Moak is President of Americans for Fair Skies, a grassroots nonprofit established with the goal of persuading the United States government to open consultations with countries in violation of Open Skies agreements as a result of government subsidization.^[3]

Previous Roles

Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) (2011-2014)

Captain Moak became a member of ALPA’s pilots union in 1988. In 2011, he began a single four-year term at ALPA as Chief Executive and Administrative Officer.

While Captain Moak was their president, ALPA worked to advance pilots’ views in the airline industry before government agencies, airlines, and the news media. ALPA also led pilots to ratify 19 new contracts,^[4] including the largest airline merger in history between United and Continental during Captain Moak's tenure. His job responsibilities also included overseeing the Association’s daily operations and coordinating the meetings and policy agendas of ALPA's governing bodies. As ALPA president, Captain Moak worked on issues including advocating for the overhaul of the Export-Import Bank of the United States’ wide-body aircraft financing practice.

Delta Air Lines (1988-2014)

After his tours of duty as a fighter pilot, Moak went to work for Delta Air Lines^[5] where he captained B-767s. He served three terms as Chairman of the Delta Master Executive Council, beginning in 2005^[6]

Captain Moak led Delta’s airline pilots through major transformations within the airline,^[7] beginning with the airline’s declaration of bankruptcy and subsequent Chapter 11 filing in 2005,^[8] fighting off a hostile takeover attempt from US Airways,^[9] and continuing in 2008 during their merger with Northwest Airlines.

During the course of his tenure as Chairman of the Delta Master Executive Council, an equitable new pilot contract was implemented as a result of the Delta and Northwest Airlines merger...^[4] This contract, signed in 2008, was the first time a labor agreement was reached in advance of the close of an airline merger and has become the aviation industry standard for pilot merger contracts^[4]

Marine Corps (1977-1988)

Captain Moak served nine years a United States Marine Corps fighter pilot flying F-4s and F-18s. He later transitioned to the Naval Air Reserve Forces (1988-2001) to finish his military career as a U.S. Navy fighter pilot flying F-18s.

Advisory Roles

From 2011-2015, Captain Moak served on both the AFL-CIO Executive Council and Financial Oversight Committee for the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department. He also had a seat on the FAA NextGen Advisory Committee (NAC) from 2011-2015, a committee composed of industry decision makers with the aim of advising the administration on key-decisions regarding the improvement and modernization of the United States’ aviation infrastructure.

Captain Moak is currently a member of the FAA Management Advisory Council (MAC) on management, policy, spending, and regulatory matters.

Personal life

Moak resides in New Orleans, Louisiana and Washington, D.C. with his wife. They have 3 children.

References