James Norman

Biography

James Norman is a Minneapolis-based pilot for Delta Air Lines, flying the A-330 internationally.  In addition to line pilot duties, he works on behalf of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), teaching risk management, safety management systems, and safety leadership in aviation to its 74,000 members.

James completed a Ph.D. in Aerospace Sciences from the University of North Dakota.  His research focused on voluntary reporting (ASAP) and the factors that both promote and discourage frontline employees in choosing to report.  Additional research focuses on the concept of Safety-II, which recognizes human deviation as an essential component of complex systems.  He cites Drs. Erik Hollnagel and Sidney Dekker as mentors along the journey towards promoting the “new view” of safety.  

James is a three-time recipient of Delta’s Award for Excellence, a NASA Space Grant Consortium recipient, and the 2022 Mosby Award winner (given by industry aircraft dispatchers for contributions, presentations and support in the field of aviation safety).  He is currently a FOQA Gatekeeper for Delta Air Lines.  With ALPA, he served two terms as Vice Chairman of the National Safety Council, where he led a successful effort to begin data fusion across the aviation industry.  He also served eight years as the ALPA Safety Committee Chairman for Endeavor Air, including duties as a party coordinator for three NTSB investigations. 

He is active with a number of international organizations, including the Flight Safety Foundation, Royal Aeronautical Society, Resilience Engineering Association (REA), and EUROCONTROL.  He is a reviewer for various peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings.  He recently served as guest editor for REA's newsletter, focusing on learning systems for resilience in aviation. 

In 2024, he published in the journal of Safety Science on unintended system brittleness created when frontline workers in aviation must rely on resilent behavior.