Richard L. Aboulafia

Since 1988, Richard has tracked aircraft programs, markets, and companies as an analyst and consultant. He manages consulting projects in the commercial and military aviation field and analyzes broader defense and aerospace market and industry trends. He has advised numerous aerospace companies, including most prime and many second- and third-tier contractors in the US, Europe and Asia. He also advises numerous financial institutions on aerospace market conditions.

Richard is a Managing Director at AeroDynamic Advisory, a boutique aerospace and defense management consultancy headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Prior to joining AeroDynamic in January 2022, he was Vice President of Analysis at Teal Group. There, in addition to his consulting role, he wrote and edited Teal Group’s World Military and Civil Aircraft Briefing, a forecasting and analysis tool covering over 135 aircraft programs and markets. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

He also writes publicly about aviation and defense, with regular columns in Aviation Week & Space Technology and at Forbes.com. His articles have also appeared in Foreign Policy, Royal Aeronautical Society’s Aerospace magazine, the Wall Street Journal, Slate, AIAA’s Aerospace America, the Financial Times, Professional Pilot, and other publications.

Frequently cited as an aviation industry authority by trade and news publications, Richard has appeared on numerous television news and radio programs including ABC, BBC, Bloomberg, Reuters, CBS, CNN, NBC, NPR and PBS. He has spoken at numerous conferences, including Speednews, ATRIF, NAFA, IADA, AeroMontreal, the Ontario Aerospace Council, and PNAA. Since 2012 he has served on the National Aeronautic Association Collier Trophy Selection Committee. He has testified before Congress. He also presents a yearly lecture to the National Defense University/Industrial College of the Armed Forces and has served as an expert witness in aerospace markets.

Before he joined Teal Group in 1990, Richard analyzed the jet engine market at Jane’s Information Group, served as an aerospace industry consultant for an international trade advisory company and supported research projects at the Brookings Institution. He has a Masters degree in War Studies from King’s College, University of London and a Bachelors degree from George Washington University. He lives in Washington, DC.