Ep. 49 Al Spain Co-Founder of jetBlue

Al Spain has over 50 years of operations leadership. His background reflects a career spanning general aviation, military, airline, and corporate aviation operations. Most recently, Captain Spain served as a founder and Senior Vice President Operations of JetBlue Airways Corporation in New York. He retired from JetBlue in 2006 and prior to JetBlue, he was Vice President Flight Operations for Continental Micronesia Airlines, a subsidiary of Continental Airlines. Captain Spain retired from Continental Airlines in 1998 after serving in Flight Standards and Training Division as well as a Captain in line flight operations. He was the FAA designated Director of Operations for both Continental Micronesia and JetBlue. He was domicile Chief Pilot for Oceanic Contractors, a privately owned airline operating in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Most recently, Captain Spain served on the Board of Directors of Pinnacle Airlines, Inc.

He has recently served the US Federal Government’s Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) as an Independent Assessment Team member. He also was a member of the National Academies of Science, National Research Committee on Research and Development for Wake Turbulence and NAOMS review committee. He recently served on the FAA Safety Team (FAAST) as a Safety Representative. He is currently involved with Civil Air Patrol at the Wing and National levels, is working with Unmanned Aircraft System development, and is also a member of the Association of Unmanned Vehicles International.

Mr. Spain holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Louisiana Tech University and a Master of Business Administration from Concordia University (Montreal, Canada). He is a Senior Member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, has served as a member of the Industry Advisory Board of MIT’s Global Aviation Industry Program, and was a member of the Aviation Department Advisory Committee of the State University of New York at Farmingdale. Captain Spain served on the board of The Low Country Economic Development Alliance and the Beaufort County Airports Board. He previously served on the Aviation Management Advisory Board of Auburn University and is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors. Captain Spain flew as a combat pilot in Vietnam (Forward Air Controller) and among his awards are the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and Air Medal for Valor. His last military assignment was as Chief, Flight Evaluation Branch, USAAVNS.