On May 30, 2024, U.S. Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Mike Whitaker held a meeting at the Federal Aviation Administration headquarters in Washington, D.C., regarding the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requiring Boeing to take responsibility for safety and production quality issues. listened to questions at the press conference.
Andrew Harnick | Getty Images
Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Mike Whitaker said Thursday he will resign on January 20, the day President-elect Donald Trump takes office, leaving the key regulatory agency. boeing company The U.S. aviation industry is once again without a leader.
Whitaker was confirmed as FAA administrator in October 2023 for a five-year term. Strengthen institutional review In January of this year, just a few months into his tenure, he became Boeing’s CEO after a near-catastrophic door jam burst on a Boeing 737 Max airliner.
Mark House, FAA Assistant Administrator for Finance and Management, will serve as Acting Deputy Administrator.
There have been many changes in the agency’s leadership in recent years. The events come amid one of the most tumultuous periods for the U.S. aviation industry, which has included two crashes and subsequent grounding of Boeing’s best-selling 737 Max aircraft, the Covid-19 pandemic and a series of high-profile near misses and incidents involving Security Question.
Trump’s last nominee to lead FAA was exdelta team leader Steve Dixonresigning midway through his term in 2022.
“You have witnessed a change in leadership and through each transition you have kept air travel stable and safe. This transition is no exception,” Whitaker said in a statement.
A spokesman for the Trump transition team had no immediate comment.
Trump has yet to nominate an FAA administrator for his second term. His final nominee, if confirmed, would face a host of challenges, including continued oversight of Boeing, staffing and air traffic control modernization. The controller shortage is troubling airline executives, who blame staffing shortages for congestion at some of the nation’s busiest airports.
The FAA’s regulation of the aerospace industry has also been a source of controversy. Companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin urge improvements The FAA is speedy and efficient in regulating rocket launches and spacecraft returns from orbit.
Musk also said in September that his company would Sue the FAA Due to “supervision overreach” Agency fines SpaceX License violation, according to the company Delayed test flight Its starship rocket.
