Ray Valeika is an internationally recognized senior airline operations executive with over 40 years of managing large airline maintenance operations. He is equally comfortable in the US and abroad dealing with regulators, manufacturers and employees.

Mr. Valeika is most recently retired from Delta as Senior Vice President - Technical Operations where he directed a worldwide maintenance and engineering staff of more than 10,000 professionals, maintaining a fleet of nearly 600 aircraft.

Through his leadership and focus on continuous improvement of the human processes in aviation maintenance, Delta Technical Operations consistently rated at the top of the industry for performance benchmarks in the areas of safety, quality, productivity, and reliability.

During his tenure, TechOps has grown to become one of the leading MRO service providers in the aviation industry. Under his leadership, TechOps has implemented Six Sigma and LEAN management techniques, helping Delta’s TechOps become one of the most productive work groups in the industry.

TechOps has been honored with numerous awards, including the FAA-AMT Diamond Award, Georgia Oglethorpe Award, Aviation Week & Space Technology MRO Innovation Award, and Star status in OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP). In addition, Mr. Valeika was honored with the ATA’s Nuts & Bolts award, recognizing his leadership in the Aviation industry. Finally, his leadership of the “human” side has been recognized over the years with a Humanitarian Award from the Community Mayors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, and Laurel from Aviation Week and Space Technology for his role with human factors training at Continental. In October of 1999 Ray received the Marvin Whitlock Award from the Society of Automotive Engineers. He was chosen for this award in recognition of his accomplishments and long-term leadership within the aeronautical engineering and commercial aviation industries. Most recently the Aviation Week Group honored him with a lifetime achievement award.

A native of Kaunas, Lithuania, Ray graduated from St. Louis University with a degree in aeronautical engineering in 1964. He has previously held senior executive positions with Pan Am and Continental Airlines as well as with Delta.