This is major — for the first time since April 2022, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has a Senate-confirmed Administrator.
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President Biden’s FAA pick gets confirmed
In early September 2023, President Biden announced that he had nominated Michael G. Whitaker to serve as Administrator of the FAA, and there’s now an exciting update. By a vote of 98-0, the Senate has confirmed Whitaker to lead the FAA.
Whitaker has an unbelievable amount of experience in aviation. Most recently, he served as Chief Operating Officer of Supernal, a Hyundai Motor Group company designing an electric advanced air mobility (AAM) vehicle, where he oversaw all commercial and key business operations.
Prior to that, from 2013 until 2016, Whitaker served as Deputy Administrator at the FAA. There, he worked to successfully transition the air traffic control system from radar to a satellite-enabled surveillance technology (ABS-B).
Before that, he served as Group CEO of InterGlobe Enterprises, India’s largest travel conglomerate and operator of India’s largest airline, IndiGo. Whitaker also worked at United Airlines for 15 years, where he served in variety of senior roles, involving commercial alliances and joint ventures, international and regulatory affairs, and strategic counsel to the CEO.
Even before that, Whitaker started his career as a litigator, then as an Assistant General Counsel of international and regulatory affairs, at Trans World Airlines (TWA). He is also a private pilot, and holds a juris doctorate degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
It’s great that the FAA finally has an Administrator
The FAA has been without a confirmed Administrator for around 18 months now, when previous FAA Administrator Steve Dickson resigned. In July 2022, Biden nominated Phil Washington as Administrator of the FAA.
Washington had a lot of airport experience, as he was CEO of Denver International Airport, and for six years prior to that he was the CEO of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. However, he otherwise lacked airline experience.
Washington was facing quite a bit of political scrutiny when it came to getting confirmed for the position. In March 2023, he finally withdrew his nomination, as many people questioned his airline experience, and ability to lead the FAA.
I didn’t know a whole lot about Whitaker prior to him being nominated, but he seems like a great candidate to lead the FAA, and I’m happy to see that he has been confirmed. He has been in the aviation industry for three decades, and has an incredible breadth of experience, ranging from already working at the FAA, to having a variety of roles at airlines and in aviation startups.
Our aviation system faces so many constraints at the moment, so it’s good to see the bipartisanship that has gotten Whitaker confirmed. Now he has his work cut out for him!
Bottom line
President Biden’s pick for FAA Administrator has just been confirmed by the Senate, as Michael Whitaker will lead the FAA. He has been in the aviation industry for decades, and has worked at airlines, at air mobility vehicle startups, and even at the FAA. I’m happy to see how quickly the confirmation process moved along, so here’s to hoping he can lead some positive and long overdue changes at the FAA.
What do you make of Whitaker being confirmed as FAA Administrator?
I've been through the confirmation process (for a previous administration) and I've watched many people go through it. So -- without making any comments on the nominees -- I can tell you that well qualified candidates can fail and unqualified candidates can succeed. Unless (1) the candidate does something ridiculously stupid during the confirmation process or (2) the media turn up dirt that the vetting process missed, failure to get confirmed usually has *nothing* to...
I've been through the confirmation process (for a previous administration) and I've watched many people go through it. So -- without making any comments on the nominees -- I can tell you that well qualified candidates can fail and unqualified candidates can succeed. Unless (1) the candidate does something ridiculously stupid during the confirmation process or (2) the media turn up dirt that the vetting process missed, failure to get confirmed usually has *nothing* to do with the candidate and their qualifications. Failure to get confirmed is political and usually has to do with a Senator holding the nomination to make a political point or garner a political outcome. There are rare occurrences where the nominee has taken positions that senators or the public don't like. Sometimes the administration has made a calculated decision to nominate anyway. Sometimes they get it wrong.
But what y'all should understand is where I started -- most of the time, it has nothing to do with the nominee. Look at what Tuberville is doing with military promotions right now.
Shows that when someone with experience and merit gets nominated, both sides can come together. The previous nominated was a total "political" nominee who had less than decade of experience in "public transit" and for a short time ran a airport.
Both nominees of course seem to have been well-qualified and experienced, but I take your point that it's not difficult to see why the ethnonationalists preferred the latter to the former.
Oh for chrissakes!
Go away with this stupid slander. There is a clear difference in qualification, one that Ben also pointed out. Not everything is about race and also if it really had been, they never would've gotten away with it without a huge scandal in todays media landscape. But there wasn't. So for once, maybe don't automatically assume the worst.
Yes digital-nomad, everything cab easily be boiled down to race. Except when it's gender. Or sexual orientation. Remind me again, which one comes 1st, 2nd, & 3rd in the Victimhood Olympics?
@digital_notmad
I love it when people try to use big words while promoting negativity.
The definition of "ethnonationalists" is the belief, theory, or doctrine that shared ancestry is the principal element of a cohesive national identity, and that a government should protect and promote the culture, language, and religion of one group.
The "ethnonationalists" you refer to that "preferred the latter to the former", is a group of 98 individuals made up...
@digital_notmad
I love it when people try to use big words while promoting negativity.
The definition of "ethnonationalists" is the belief, theory, or doctrine that shared ancestry is the principal element of a cohesive national identity, and that a government should protect and promote the culture, language, and religion of one group.
The "ethnonationalists" you refer to that "preferred the latter to the former", is a group of 98 individuals made up of individuals from various cultures, ethnic backgrounds, and religions.
Overall, 133 senators and representatives today identify as Black, Hispanic, Asian American, American Indian or Alaska Native, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of data from the Congressional Research Service.
Funniest thing I've ever read. That is sadly NOT how the process works.