John Van Gels
Vice President
Operations and Supplier Management and
Senior St. Louis Site Leader
John Van Gels is vice president of Operations and Supplier Management for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. He is responsible for the production of all fixed-wing tactical aircraft, tankers, transport aircraft and rotorcraft, as well as the company's weapon systems in St. Charles, Mo. In this role, he integrates work across the Manufacturing, Supplier Management, Supplier Quality and Quality functions to ensure consistent application of best practices in Boeing factories, and those run by Boeing suppliers and partners. He is also St. Louis site leader, responsible for day-to-day St. Louis operations.
Van Gels most recently served a short-term support assignment in Operations on the 787 Dreamliner program in Boeing Commercial Airplanes. He has also served as vice president of Operations for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, and before that, he held the position of vice president and general manager of Production Operations and General Services.
Van Gels began his career with the company in 1963 in the Production organization at the McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Division. In 1971, he managed the electrical areas in St. Louis, and in 1978 became assistant program manager of Tomahawk production at McDonnell Douglas Missile Systems Company. He was promoted to deputy program manager of the Tomahawk Anti-Ship Guidance System program in 1981. From 1986 to March 1989, he served as director of Production at the Missile Systems Company and was later appointed vice president of Product Centers.
In May 1990, Van Gels was named vice president of Product Center Operations at Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, Calif. He later served as vice president and general manager of Production Programs for the MD-80, MD-90, MD-11 and Trunkliner programs at Douglas Aircraft. In February 1997, he returned to St. Louis to become vice president and general manager of Production Operations and General Services at McDonnell Douglas Aerospace.
Van Gels serves as president of the board of directors for the St. Louis Area Foodbank, a member of the Shingo Board of Governors, and trustee emeritus to the Ranken Technical College Board of Trustees.
703-414-6312