PDD 2026 SPEAKER
Corey Becker
"Aviate, Navigate, Communicate: Leading Projects Under Pressure"
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About the Speaker
Corey Becker is a Captain with United Airlines with more than 10 years of experience as an airline pilot. He holds FAA Airline Transport Pilot credentials and type ratings across multiple commercial aircraft, including the CRJ-700, ERJ-145, Airbus A320, Boeing 737, Boeing 777, and Boeing 787. He is also a Certified Flight Instructor. Corey earned his Bachelor of Science from Michigan State University and his Master of Science in Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. His aviation career brings a distinct perspective on leadership, teamwork, risk, automation, situational awareness, and decision-making in high-pressure environments.
Session: "Aviate, Navigate, Communicate: Leading Projects Under Pressure"
Commercial aviation operates in an environment where uncertainty, changing conditions, risk, and time-critical decisions are part of every flight. Drawing from his experience as a commercial airline captain, Corey will show how aviation's foundational principle of Aviate, Navigate, Communicate can translate to project leadership: first maintain control of the situation, then determine the best course of action, and communicate clearly. Through aviation experiences, practical examples, and discussion, the session will examine situational awareness, risk management, decision-making under uncertainty, team accountability, communication, automation, and continuous learning. It will also consider when technology can support the work and when human judgment must take the lead.
Learning Objectives
Attendees will be able to:
- Apply the Aviate, Navigate, Communicate framework to project challenges.
- Recognize and proactively manage emerging risks and threats.
- Strengthen situational awareness when conditions change.
- Make decisions with incomplete or evolving information.
- Establish clear team roles, communication, and accountability.
- Balance AI and automation with appropriate human oversight and judgment.
- Use retrospectives and lessons learned to support continuous improvement.
Project professionals routinely lead through uncertainty, competing priorities, and incomplete information. This opening keynote brings lessons from commercial aviation into a project management setting, giving PDD 2026 attendees another framework for approaching risk, communication, technology, and leadership under pressure.
Register for PDD 2026 here.
