Capt. Jose Fernandez is Director of the Asia Pacific Centre for Aviation Safety at the Flight Safety Foundation, where he leads efforts to strengthen aviation safety through regional collaboration, practical research, and industry engagement across Asia Pacific. He brings nearly four decades of international experience in aviation operations, safety, quality, and leadership, with senior roles spanning airlines, global industry organizations, and advisory services. Before joining the Foundation, Capt. Fernandez served as Associate Director, Aviation Safety Partnership, at Willis Towers Watson; Assistant Director, Safety and Flight Operations Asia Pacific, and Manager, Audit Standards, at the International Air Transport Association (IATA); Deputy Safety and Quality Director at VietJet Air; Corporate Safety and Quality Director at Lion Air Group; and Vice President of Flight Safety at Iberia Airlines of Spain. Earlier in his career, he also held operational roles including fleet manager, human factors safety manager, operational flight safety manager, check pilot, chief pilot, flight instructor, and flight operations leader. Throughout his career, he has led major safety and operational improvement initiatives, including the implementation of Safety Management Systems, Evidence-Based Training, flight data and data-mining tools, Just Culture programs, Electronic Flight Bag programs, Fatigue Risk Management, and RNAV/PBN initiatives. He also played key roles in IOSA implementation and standards development, helped guide multi-airline safety integration in Asia, and served as Industry Co-Chair of the ICAO Asia-Pacific Regional Aviation Safety Team (APRAST) from 2021 to 2023. Capt. Fernandez holds a Master’s degree in Aviation Business Administration from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, as well as an IATA Diploma in Safety Management for Airlines. He has also completed advanced training through USC, the NTSB, IATA, and IFSA, and has served as a professor in the Aviation Management Degree program at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.