2022 Global Summit

One of Canada’s foremost subject matter experts in transportation, John Gradek has provided commentary to both print and electronic media on issues ranging from commercial aviation to supply chain management to aircraft manufacture. John has participated in numerous seminars and international conferences to discuss the state of the aviation and aerospace industry, providing insight into the strategic as well as tactical efforts undertaken to deal with changing times and achieve success.

A graduate of the Ivey Business School with a Masters in Business Administration, John Gradek also holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree from the Universite de Montreal (Loyola College) as well as a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree from Carleton University.

John Gradek began his professional career at Air Canada in 1975 in Airport Operations and progressing through management role in Cargo Operations, Marketing Strategy, Passenger Pricing, Operational Audit, Fleet Scheduling and Revenue Management.

In 1993, John joined Canadian Pacific Railway undertaking change leadership roles within Business Process Reengineering. After the consolidation of the railway’s operations and administrative HQ roles in Calgary, John had responsibility for locomotive fleet asset management, followed by leadership roles in railway service design.

In 1999, he joined Synergy Technologies in Calgary as President, leading the commercialization of heavy oil upgrading and the syngas production of ultra-low-sulfur transportation fuels. In 2000, John returned to the transportation domains, working with several consulting firms on asset management mandates in rail and air transport for several North American clients.

In 2007, John embarked on his executive search career, joining Stanton Chase in the Montreal office. His transportation expertise led him to lead several rail and aviation executive assignments across North America and to his participation as Aviation lead in the Transportation and Logistics practice group. In 2017, he joined Dergel Executive Search, a boutique retained executive search firm in Montreal, focusing on supply chain, logistics and transportation assignments for firms across North America.

In 2020, John joined Alexander Hughes in their Montreal office, focusing on supply chain and logistics mandates, and building his relationships in the aviation and aerospace domains to complete executive search mandates for leadership roles.

In 2021, John joined DHR Global as a Partner in their Montreal office.

John is a strong believer in continuous learning, having been involved in both aviation management training with the International Aviation Management Training Institute as well as McGill University’s School of Continuing Studies. He is currently a faculty lecturer and academic program coordinator for the Supply Chain, Logistics, Operations and Aviation Management programs at McGill.

In 2018, John was appointed as a part-time member of the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada for a four-year term. The TATC is a quasi-judicial body whose principal mandate is to hold review and appeal hearings at the request of parties subject to certain administrative actions taken by the Minister of Transport. John’s focus on the Tribunal has been on both rail and aviation matters.

John is married and resides in Montreal.