Lee Moak

Donald Lee Moak (born April 20, 1957) is an expert in aviation safety, consultant, and the co-founder of Intrepid, a public affairs, advocacy, and business consulting firm located in Washington, D.C. He previously served as co-chair of The DOT Special Committee to Review FAA’s Aircraft Certification Process.

Before joining Delta Air Lines and working his way up to a B-767 Delta Air Lines captain, Moak served as a Marine Corps and U.S. Navy Reserve fighter pilot, and as president of the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA).

Moak was appointed to this position by the president of the United States at the recommendation of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

Moak became a member of ALPA's pilots union in 1988.

In 1989, Moak transferred from the Marines into the U.S. Navy Reserve where he continued to fly the F-18 fighter jet.

He served three terms as chairman of the Delta Master Executive Council, beginning in 1995.

In 1998, he was appointed to the rank of Commander (United States).

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

Moak served in the United States Marines, flying the F-4 Phantom and F-18 Hornet.

He graduated from Naval Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN), Air Combat Tactics Instructor (ACTI) program, and Marine Weapons & Tactic Instructor (WTI) program.

He was a designated Nuclear Weapons Officer and was progressively promoted to the rank of Captain (O3).

In 2011, he began a four-year term at ALPA as chief executive and administrative officer.

While president, Moak oversaw the unionization of JetBlue pilots and fought the threat of airlines entering the U.S. market while evading labor protections.

Moak and the ALPA led the opposition to a proposal to set up a U.S. customs checkpoint in Abu Dhabi, which U.S. pilots viewed as an advantage for foreign-owned airlines.

His job responsibilities also included overseeing the association's daily operations and coordinating meetings and policy agendas.

Moak was expelled from ALPA in 2023 for an Article VIII violation for services performed for an outside entity acting contrary to the interests of the Union and its members.

He served on the FAA NextGen Advisory Committee from 2011 to 2014, as well as the FAA Institute Management Council of the NextGen Institute from 2011 to 2014.

From 2011 to 2015, Moak served on the AFL-CIO Executive Council and Financial Oversight Committee for the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department.

Moak was a member of the FAA Management Advisory Council from 2012 until 2017.

Moak is a member of the board of the International Aviation Club of Washington, D.C., which he joined in 2017.

In March 2019, Moak was appointed by Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao as co-chair of The Special Committee to Review FAA’s Aircraft Certification Process.

The Committee was an independent body whose findings and recommendations will be presented directly to the Secretary and the FAA Administrator.

In 2019, Moak was co-chair of the U.S. DOT's Special Committee to Review the FAA's Aircraft Certification Process and also served on the FAA's Drone Advisory Committee.

Moak serves on the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service.

The USPS Board of Governors, bipartisan by law, includes governors from both parties.

Moak was appointed to this position by the president of the United States at the recommendation of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

Moak was confirmed to his seat on the board of governors by the U.S. Senate in on June 18, 2020 and was sworn into his role on June 24, 2020.

Within this role, Moak has served as chair of the Compensation and Governance Committee of the Election Mail Committee, as well as a member of the Audit and Operations Committee.

Moak was named first to the Advisory Board and later to the Board of Directors of Reliable Robotics, a company focused on enhancing aviation safety with advanced avionics.

Moak was named as a Director to the Board of Directors of Wheels Up, a leading provider of on-demand private aviation in the U.S. and one of the largest private aviation companies in the world, in September 2023.

Moak is a co-founder and chief executive officer of Intrepid, a public affairs, advocacy, and business consulting firm located in Washington, D.C. The firm was previously called The Moak Group.

Moak's Intrepid co-founder is Michael Robbins, who is Chief Advocacy Officer of AUVSI.

Lee Moak is a member of the FAA's Advanced Aviation Advisory Committee.

Moak is also an advisor on the Aeroméxico Unsecured Creditors Committee (UCC), to which he was appointed in 2020.

Moak is also on the Board of Directors at The Studios of Key West, a center for the arts in Key West.

The Committee released its report on January 16, 2020 finding that that overall, the FAA’s certification, as set forth by Congress and governed by regulation, is effective; however, reforms must be adopted to help our extremely safe aviation system become even better at identifying and mitigating risk.

After his tours of duty, Moak went to work for Delta Air Lines where he flew B-767s.

Moak was confirmed to his seat on the board of governors by the U.S. Senate in the summer of 2020 and was sworn into his role on June 24, 2020.

Within this role, Moak has served as a member on the Compensation and Governance Committee as well as the Operations Committee, and as chairman of the Election Mail Committee.