Lessons from the Sky: Ron Felix on Aerospace, High-Stakes Leadership, and Moral Fortitude
Ron Felix, President and Chief Executive Officer of Moeller Aerospace
Meet the Master of Precision
Today, we delve into the world of aerospace and high-stakes executive leadership with Ron Felix, the CEO and President of Moeller Aerospace. His career is a powerful narrative of ambition, technical mastery, and courageous leadership in one of the world's most demanding industries.
Ron leads Moeller Aerospace, a 425+ person business with over $175 million in annual revenue. The company's primary purpose is manufacturing high-precision components for gas turbine engines, primarily for commercial, military, and even space applications.
Ron's journey began as a Mechanical Design Engineer at Pratt & Whitney, where he was a participant in the CORE High Potential Leadership Program. He worked his way up, gaining ever-increasing levels of complexity and responsibility. His strengths emerged in restructuring global business units for greater profitability, exploiting new opportunities, optimizing team performance, and integrating new business portfolios.
For example, at Aerojet Rocketdyne, Ron was responsible for implementing strategic restructuring initiatives and running the daily operations of ten North American factories on an interim basis. He was also instrumental in turning around an underperforming $100M In Space Propulsion business unit. As General Manager at Smiths Aerospace Components, he reversed a six-year decline and grew net profits by 71% over four years.
Currently, as CEO & President of Moeller Aerospace, he has held earnings steady through the pandemic, rebuilt the leadership team, and created a growing backlog of orders. Ron holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) from Penn State University and an MBA in Finance & International Business from the University of Connecticut.
In his interview, Ron shares the childhood fascination that led him to this field and the hard-won wisdom that defines great leadership.
The Business of Reliability in Aerospace
Moeller Aerospace specializes in build-to-print componentry for the three big Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs): Pratt Whitney, General Electric, and Rolls-Royce. Their specialty is high nickel content alloy, high and low-pressure turbine blades, vanes, and shroud segments—the components that operate in the very hot section of the engine, anywhere between 900 to 3200 degrees Fahrenheit. This work requires very high precision and elaborate investment castings as input stock.
The industry's products have immense longevity: an engine serial number can last 25 to 40 years. The entire industry is currently sold out for the next decade, with OEMs pushing to increase output rates.
Ron notes the unique nature of the business:
Predictable Volume: They know what the year's volume will be based on build and overhaul plans, making it an execution problem.
Slow Growth: Due to product lead times (30 to 90 weeks), it's not a business you can rapidly grow in. Short-term discounting to drive volume doesn't work.
High Dedication: The job is about keeping military pilots flying missions or 350 commercial passengers safely in the air. The people on the manufacturing floor "will beam with pride" because they understand their work is critical.
Above all, the industry is incredibly well-engineered and highly regulated. As Ron summarizes: "Reliability is the name of the game".
Engineering, Innovation, and the Limits of Physics
Ron's path into aerospace was driven by a deep fascination with flight. Growing up near an airport, he watched 727s and 737s, and later, the Apollo/Space Shuttle programs, cementing his desire to "do something that flew".
Regarding the future of engines, Ron believes the commercial sector is approaching the limits of current physics. Over 40 years, he has watched the industry push physics to maximize efficiency through computational dynamics and advanced materials.
For commercial airlines, the focus is almost entirely on gas mileage—the fuel burn. Breakthroughs will likely come only through significant technological shifts, such as:
Small, Compact Batteries: To electrify the engine and eliminate fuel burn.
Alternate Fuels: Configurations outside of traditional carbon-based fuels (e.g., hydrogen), though current hydrogen volume requirements pose massive economic and structural problems for standard airframes.
In contrast, the military sector still has room to grow, particularly in hypersonics and the material science required to blend current engine and rocket propulsion technologies. Ron stresses that, short of a nuclear reactor, the modern jet engine is one of the world's best-engineered pieces of equipment, prioritizing reliability above all.
Leadership and the Fortitude to Face the Truth
When reflecting on the toughest problems he's faced, Ron notes that they are "surprisingly not technically generated. They're usually human generated".
The most challenging business problems—whether operational, monetary, or technical—arise when people "oversold or undersold a position" for economically selfish reasons and "couldn't come with the grips of reality".
Ron's approach to solving these high-stakes problems requires moral fortitude and a willingness to eliminate politics:
Focus on the Facts: "I'm a believer in just these are the facts and we're going to deal with the facts".
Wipe Away Politics: Ron finds the greatest success in taking a group of leaders, wiping away the politics, and focusing on what the truth is telling, whether it's technical physics or human capability.
Confronting Fear of Loss: People, particularly as they get older, fear losing their lifestyle or livelihood, causing them to run from conflict or problems. Great leadership requires confronting these hard truths (like having to spend more money or re-engineer a process).
Ron sums up his leadership philosophy: "Leadership isn't easy, but it starts with your own personal moral fortitude". He believes a leader must be a good communicator, teaching and educating people why the right thing is the right thing.
Motivation and the Personal Bet on Success
Ron's entire career has been a series of measured bets on his ability to solve the next big problem. He conveys this high-risk, high-reward mindset to his children:
"I'm betting that I could do this and I have to go in there with the mindset that I might be I might lose everything that I've done up until that point in time... with the understanding that if I'm successful, we'll be better off on the out end".
This mindset is what separates those who lead and those who run away from conflict. Ron's advice is clear:
Play to Win: "If you're playing not to lose, you're going to lose every time".
Focus on the Problem: The solution must be in the best interest of the problem, even if it's not always in the best interest of the company.
Leave a Legacy: "You have to leave a legacy behind that says we have to do it right all the time".
If Ron had a billboard on the busiest highway on Earth, his message would be: "Believe in yourself". He stresses that the person you must answer to most is the one in the mirror.
"If you believe in the person that you see in the mirror in the morning, you could take on just about any problem... Never doubt that you can do bigger and better things than you've done before".
Ron Felix's journey is a powerful reminder that in industries defined by incredible precision and reliability, the greatest challenges are solved not only with engineering brilliance, but with personal courage and unwavering moral commitment..
Written by Jovilyn Dela Cruz
“I’ve always believed that if somebody doesn’t like what I’m doing because I’m doing it right, then I’ll go do something else for someone else who has the same vision and fortitude that I have. You have to play to win. If you’re playing not to lose, you’re going to lose every time.”
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