Dr. Vining is a Senior Technical Fellow for flight operations and the Chief Pilot for Product Development, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. In this role, he directs research flight test operations on commercial aircraft and experimental test beds. His organization helps plan and execute testing for a variety of new technologies including the NASA X-66, new aerodynamics, new materials, new sensors, machine learning, and assured autonomy.

Vining was taught to fly by bush pilots in Alaska in 1986. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering from the Wichita State University, then began his career as a test pilot with Learjet in 1992, eventually joining Boeing in 2005. Vining earned a Master of Science degree in systems architecture and engineering from the University of Southern California, and PhD in international business from Northcentral University.

Vining has been an engineering test pilot for over 32 years, and helped develop and test fly over 11 new and derivative jet models. His flight test experience ranges from testing Learjets on gravel runways to dragging the tail of the 747-8 on the runway for Velocity Minimum Unstick testing. He flew all the Boeing model ecoDemonstrators, including the first regenerative hydrogen fuel cell providing power to a Boeing 737 electrical system in 2012.