Terry McVenes was named the President and CEO of RTCA, Inc. in November of 2018. Founded in 1935, RTCA is a private, not for profit association that brings together the brightest business, technical, operational, and regulatory experts from across the aviation industry to find common ground for higher levels of performance standards in global aviation.

McVenes came to RTCA after spending the past decade at The Boeing Company, where he held the position of Director of System Safety and Regulatory Affairs. In this position, McVenes directed operations support to assist countries and customers with regulatory approvals to ensure efficient and effective flight operations. He was appointed to that position in November 2009 after a 30-year career as an airline pilot. He was responsible for the execution of the Commercial Airplanes safety, regulatory, and rulemaking initiatives throughout the world. McVenes also led Boeing’s relationships with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Flight Standards Service organization, pilot associations, and other industry groups. He represented Boeing on the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) and the Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) Executive Board.

Prior to joining Boeing, he served as the Executive Air Safety Chairman for the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), representing ALPA pilots in airline safety and engineering matters arising within the industry. McVenes has also served as the industry co-chairman for several FAA Aviation Rulemaking Committees, one of which developed the ASIAS program and its corresponding procedures and operations plan.

McVenes has testified before Congressional committees of both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives and has spoken at many international forums on a wide variety of aviation safety topics. He has also authored numerous articles on aviation safety, which have appeared in national and international publications.

In addition to his work in aviation, McVenes has provided expert consultation on safety to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Alliance of Automobile Manufactures, the helicopter safety community, and the medical industry.

In August 2008, McVenes was the recipient of the 2007 ALPA Annual Air Safety Award, ALPA’s highest award for aviation safety work by a line pilot.

He began his airline career in 1978 with Rocky Mountain Airways in Denver, Colorado flying the DHC-6 (Twin Otter) and DHC-7 (Dash 7) aircraft. In March 1985, he was hired by Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), which later merged into US Airways. He is rated on the DHC-7, BAe-146, FK-28, DC-9, MD-80, A-320, and B-737, and has more than 17,000 hours of flight time.

Prior to starting his airline career, McVenes was employed as an engineer for the Boeing Company in Seattle, Washington. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Seattle University with a Leadership Specialization, a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado, and the Certificate of Aviation Safety Management from the University of Southern California. He also serves on the Board of Governors for the Flight Safety Foundation.