Deputy President

Following a career as a commercial pilot (CPL) in Canada, Jean-François entered air traffic controller training at the age of 20. He obtained his licence at the Montréal Area Control Center in 2006 in the ‘North Specialty’, which covers the province of Québec and a large portion of the Hudson Bay, Nunavut and the Atlantic Ocean. This sector group controls approximately one million square nautical miles, using procedural (non-radar) and surveillance (radar and ADS-B) control, as well as CPDLC and ADS-C.

After a while, he became involved in technology and automation implementation, training, quality assurance, proficiency and other projects. In 2013, he became an operational team supervisor and was in charge of the oversight of proficiency and refresher training. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration (BAA) from the Université du Québec à Montréal and a Master Degree (MSc.) in Management – Humanitarian Action and International Development Studies from the Université Laval.

Jean-François Lepage was appointed as Liaison Officer to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Air Navigation Commission at the 2015 IFATCA Conference in Sofia, Bulgaria. In addition to his functions in the ANC, he also represented IFATCA on the Next Generation of Aviation Professionals (NGAP) Working Group, on the Competency-Based Training and Assessment Task Force (CBTA-TF) and on the Personnel Training and Licensing Panel (PTLP). In 2024, Jean-François was elected to serve as the Federation’s Deputy President.

With a variety of experience at a global level, with ICAO, and close collaboration with IFALPA and IFATSEA, he has gained a thorough understanding of international aviation rule-making processes, national regulatory environments, and considerable experience in drafting and presenting working papers. He has also a thorough understanding of ICAO mechanisms and SARPs making process.

He serves the Federation at the endorsement of his home association, Canadian Air Traffic Control Association.