Capt. Linda Orlady

President, Orlady Associates

Linda has had a long involvement in aviation, human factors, and safety as a pilot, instructor, safety volunteer, researcher, accident investigator and author. She is a third-generation pilot and served as a Chief Pilot for the Boeing Company as well as flew for United Airlines (UAL) for twenty-five years, also serving as the CRM manager. She is rated in the Airbus 319 and 320 and Boeing models from the 737 through the 787. She also holds a commercial rotorcraft rating.

Linda has volunteered in several safety areas. She served on the Board of Governors for the Flight Safety Foundation for ten years and was honored last November to receive a President’s Citation. She also worked for the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) as the Executive Air Safety Vice Chair and as the Safety Management System (SMS) Project Director. Representing ALPA,  Linda was appointed to serve as one of the Chairs for the FAA’s SMS Aviation Rulemaking Committee.

Other involvements in aviation include working as a research associate for a NASA-sponsored project investigating CRM, automation, and procedures. With her late father, Capt. Harry Orlady, she co-authored a 600-page book, Human Factors in Multi-Crew Flight Operations, which was also translated into Chinese. She remains passionate about the industry and continuing to improve it.