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When Congressman Sam Graves, House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) chairman, went in front of the Senate Commerce Committee to introduce Mike Whitaker as a nominee for head of the Federal Aviation Administration in October 2023, he was characteristically blunt about the difficulties that 19 months of temporary leadership at the agency had caused.
“If you think about it, safety is dependent on consistency and unfortunately the only thing that has been consistent at the agency since the former administrator departed is the growing list of acting positions across the agency,” Graves, a Missouri Republican, said. “The American people deserve a confirmed leader who has deep knowledge in and a passion for that matter for aviation.”
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Just over a year later, the agency still has numerous vacant leadership positions filled by individuals in an acting capacity, a situation that will now be exacerbated by Whitaker’s resignation as FAA Administrator on Jan. 20, 2025, creating massive uncertainty for an agency already facing several compounding internal and external crises at once. Whitaker’s tenure, while short, has been incredibly dense (in May, he joked to employees in an internal town hall “it’s been a busy six years, I mean six months”). Whitaker’s time at the helm coincided with quality and safety concerns at Boeing reignited by Alaska 1282, a nationwide shortage of air traffic controllers, numerous equipment issues and outages within the national airspace system as well as strategic questions about the stability of the agency’s long-term funding.
Whitaker’s departure has already sent shockwaves through the industry, with some industry officials interviewed by The Air Current worn down by the déjà vu created over fears of more temporary leadership gaps. The chief position is not the only one vacant: As previously reported by TAC, the FAA’s heads of aviation safety and aircraft certification are also open. Other new political appointees to be filled in by incoming President Donald Trump include the heads of communications, government relations and airports as well as the deputy administrator and general counsel. “I didn’t have that when I came into office,” Billy Nolen, a former acting FAA administrator, told TAC of this massive leadership gap. “I don’t think [former FAA Administrator Steve Dickson] had that. So that’s a lot. It’s a lot to take on.”
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With this cavalcade of FAA leaders headed for the door, an opportunity exists for Trump — and his allies, notably SpaceX CEO Elon Musk — to completely reshape how the agency does its work and install a new set of leaders more aligned with his industrial priorities. Both men, but especially Musk, have made their disdain for the agency known many times, publicly criticizing its perceived bureaucratic bloat as an impediment to innovation. And while the rumor mill spins over who may replace Whitaker in due time, examining the window now open for Trump at the FAA is critical in understanding how the agency will continue to tackle its intersecting crises going forward.
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