STAFF
ATAC members benefit from the dedication and experience of our staff, who are available to help solve the most pressing business problems and regulatory issues.
John McKenna
Acting President & CEO
Mr. McKenna has over 30 years of experience in both the public and private sectors. In the 1980s he worked successively as Economic advisor to Premier Robert Bourassa, then leader of the Opposition, later as Political advisor to the President of the Treasury Board and finally as Chief of Staff to the Minister of Transport and Minister of Public Security. In 1992, he was nominated Official Representative and Senior Political Advisor for the Quebec Government in Washington, D.C.
In the private sector he acted as Manager of Public and Governmental Affairs and Special Assistant to Executive Vice President for the Steinberg food chain. He later worked as a partner in a Boston based consulting firm, the Malloy Group, before returning to Quebec to invest in and manage three different manufacturing companies.
He taught International Business at the Williams School of Business at Bishop's University from 2001 to 2003 before becoming President and CEO of the Quebec Air Transport Association in September 2003, a position he held until coming taking up the position of President and CEO at ATAC in early 2009.
Mr. McKenna was an undergraduate at McGill University. He holds Master's degrees in Soviet and East European Economic Studies from Carleton University, in Business Administration (MBA) from Sherbrooke University and in Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard University.
Les Aalders
Executive Vice President
Following his Aeronautical Engineering education and earning his private pilot’s licence, Les has been employed at various commercial aviation companies throughout Canada for more than 40 years.
Les joined ATAC in 1998 and has continuously added to his responsibilities within the association. These now include flight ops, engineering and maintenance, cabin ops, environment, and safety. Since 2012 he has served as ATAC’s Executive Vice President.
David Rankin
Vice President
David brings to ATAC a very extensive background in aviation having managed flight schools for PAL Airlines, before becoming a line pilot on their Metroliner in both passenger and cargo operations. He joined Jazz Aviation (then Air Nova) in 1996 and progressed to the role of Director, Cargo and Charters as the regional airlines merged in the early 2000's. He later served as Jazz's senior manager of Facilities, Real Estate, & Ground Equipment, and as the Director of Safety, Security, & Environment post 9/11 and at the early stages of SMS.
He left Jazz to open his own air cargo general sales agency and his clients included Air Canada, Condor, and Sunwing Airlines. During this time, he was also contracted as the Executive Director of a regional airport assisting them to implement SMS and develop a new scheduled air service.
He returned to Jazz in 2012 as the Manager of Airport Fees and Property Leases where he managed over 150 leases and operating agreements. He worked closely with ATAC on several AIF consultations and gained a strong understanding on the application and processes of the AIF MOU.
He reopened his cargo sales business and represented ASL Airlines Belgium for the past 4 years before joining ATAC in the summer of 2024. He will initially be responsible for Flight Training, Cargo, and Dangerous Goods and has assumed these files from Wayne Gouveia.
Wayne Gouveia
Senior Vice President
Wayne has over 19 years working in the Aviation sector in various aviation management roles joining Air Transport Association of Canada (ATAC) in 2006 as Vice President of Flight Training. In 2017 he was appointed Senior Vice President to oversee Aviation Security, Airports (AIF), Air Cargo, Dangerous Goods, Legal and the CTA. In addition, in 2020, flight training was reinstated to his portfolio of responsibilities.
As the VP representing flight training companies Wayne has led international missions accompanied by ATAC companies to China, India, Ireland, UK, Brazil and Singapore and continues to work on promoting Canadian aviation training to the world.
He has held many positions advocating for industry with all levels of government and with industry partners. Wayne was recently elected to the board of directors of the Aviation Accreditation Board International and to the Canadian Council for Aviation and Aerospace Board of Directors.
Wayne has been a presenter and speaker and panel participant at several international aviation events. He is a graduate of McMaster University has held Canadian and CAA commercial pilot licenses.
Timothy Stephens
Events Director and Corporate Assistant
Tim Stephens joined ATAC in January 2025 as the Events Director and Corporate Assistant. He is a graduate of the University of Ottawa with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication.
His background includes experience in event planning, budget management, and providing administrative support within fast-paced environments. He is eager to contribute his skills and experience to the ATAC team.
Danielle Moore (Lavoie)
Executive Assistant and Office Manager
Danielle joined ATAC in April, 2009 bringing with her an extensive background in not-for-profit organization and customer service that she acquired during her 12 years at the Canadian Association of School of Social Work (now called Canadian Association for Social Work Education).
Danielle is the Executive Assistant to all level of management and is also responsible for membership, events registrations, maintenance of technologies, newsletters, office purchases and more.