Board of Governors

Capt. Mary Ann Schaffer

Civil Air Patrol Board of Governors Member

Capt. Mary Ann Schaffer, a veteran commercial pilot who serves as United Airlines’ managing director of aviation safety, is a member of Civil Air Patrol’s Board of Governors.

As CAP’s top governing body, the 11-member board consists of four U.S. Air Force appointees, three members appointed jointly by the secretary of the Air Force and CAP’s national commander/CEO, and four members-at-large selected by CAP’s Senior Advisory Group. The board moves CAP forward through collective decision-making to develop strategic policies, plans, and programs that guide it today and tomorrow. It is assisted by CAP’s national commander/CEO, the organization’s chief operating officer, and the CAP-U.S. Air Force commander, who act as advisers.

Schaffer, who has flown for United Airlines since 1989, joined the Board of Governors in June 2025 as a joint appointee of the Secretary of the Air Force and CAP’s national commander/CEO.

She is an experienced aviator with more than 18,000 hours of flight time in more than four decades as a pilot. She also serves on the board of managers of the United Aviate Academy in Goodyear, Arizona. She has served in a variety of roles for United, including system chief pilot and Washington base chief pilot. Her flying experience includes time as a flight engineer (second officer), first officer, captain, check pilot, and evaluator.

Schaffer, a native of McLean, Virginia, is a magna cum laude graduate of Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C., where she was a member of the Administrative Law Review.

A founder and partner from 2010-2020 at the Alexandria, Virginia, law firm of Parks & Schaffer, she is also a member of the Air Line Pilots Association, where she served as chair of the President’s Task Force on Aviation Sustainability and Environment in 2008, representing the association on all energy and environmental issues. While serving in this role in May 2008, she testified before the House Transportation Committee’s Subcommittee on Aviation.

She remains a licensed attorney in Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Schaffer also earned a master’s degree in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, where her thesis focused on validating changes in Advanced Qualification Program training curriculum.

She earned her undergraduate degree in electrical engineering and mathematics from Vanderbilt University. She also earned a graduate certificate in aviation safety from the University of Southern California’s School of Engineering.