Retired
Chairman, President and
Chief Executive Officer
Cessna Aircraft Company / CONTACT INFORMATION
Jack J. Pelton
13030 Killenwood Dr.
Wichita, KS 67230
316-530-6022 office
316-733-0686 home
316-558-2959 cell
Jack J. Pelton is the retired chairman, president and chief executive officer for Cessna Aircraft Company, the world’s leading general aviation company. Headquartered in Wichita, Kan., Cessna has produced some 192,500 aircraft since its founding in 1927, including more than 6,100 Citations, making it the largest fleet of business jetsin the world.
A native of California, Jack has more than three decades of aviation experience. He joined Cessna in November 2000 as senior vice president of Product Engineering and oversaw Cessna’s engineering and product development activities, including new aircraft development, design, experimental and production test flight, certifications and product improvements for all Cessna models. He was named president and chief executive officer in 2003 and chairman in 2005. Prior to joining Cessna he was Sr. Vice President of Engineering for Dornier Aircraft in Munich Germany. He started his career at Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach CA. There he spent 21 years in roles of increasing responsibility in Operations, Engineering and Program Management.
Jack was a member of the board and past chairman of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, where served as chairman of the Flight Operations Policy committee. He also served on the boards of directors of the National Business Aviation Association. Currently he serves on the boards of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and Corporate Angel Network.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood appointed Jack to the Federal Aviation Administration’s Management Advisory Committee for a three-year term beginning in 2011. He also served on Sec. LaHood’s 2010 Future of Aviation Advisory Committee.
In 2010, Jack received theLindbergh Award given by the Lindbergh Foundation to individuals whose work has contributed significant toward the concept of balancing technology and nature, and he receivedthe Elrey Jeppesen Leadership Award in General Aviation for his efforts in communicating the value of the industry.In 2008, Jackreceived one of the industry’s top accolades — the Aviation Week Laurel for Business and General Aviation — and the Freedom of Flight award, the Experimental Aircraft Association’s highest honor. In 2007 he was given the Kansas Ad Astra award for being the states most influential businessperson.
Currently Jack is serving as Chairman of the Board of EAA and acting in the President CEO role for EAA. He still remains active also in numerous aviation related businesses. The most recent is the Aviation Alliance group who have launched the Excalibur 421 remanufacture project and also a similar project with Gulfstream GIII’s.