Possible nominee for FAA Administrator named

Just over a week after Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen announced he was stepping down from his role this summer, whispers of a new candidate emerge. Mike Whitaker, a former FAA official during the Obama administration, has been said to be the new candidate for the role.

In late March, former nominee Phil Washington withdrew his name from the confirmation process. Washington had faced scrutiny from many members of the U.S. Senate, who were vocal about their distrust of his experience and alleged legal misdoings.

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Whitaker has spent his career in aviation, currently serving as the COO at Supernal, an emerging eVTOL company. He began his career as an attorney for TWA in New York and Washington then spent 15 years at United Airlines in Chicago as senior VP of alliances, international and regulatory affairs. He spent time as Group CEO at InterGlobe and in 2013 he was appointed as Deputy Administrator in the FAA. He served in that role until 2016 and during that time, Whitaker obtained his private pilot certificate.

He graduated from the University of Louisville with honors with a BA in Political Science and French. He went to Georgetown University Law Center with a Juris Doctorate in Law, graduating cum laude. In his role at the FAA, he led the way for the modernization of the air traffic control system in his role as deputy administrator and chief NextGen officer.

Experience has been a concern for many as the FAA seeks a new leader in a difficult time in aviation. After the pandemic, the sky is more crowded than ever before and according to Axios, the FAA manages about 45,000 flights per day. The safety of the national air space has been a topic of discussion with a steady increase of runway incursions becoming a national discussion. After the NOTAM outage caused the first nationwide ground stop since 9/11 followed by highly publicized runway incursions at airports across the country Nolen hosted a Safety Summit with members of the industry and public officials.

Mike Whitaker

The FAA has faced scrutiny over its outdated NOTAM system and Congress has requested the FAA modernize its system. With an increase in traffic in the air space, safety becomes even more imperative. One of the biggest critiques of Washington was his lack of leadership experience. With his time spent in leadership roles throughout the aviation industry and even in the FAA, perhaps Whitaker will be a more suitable candidate and have fewer naysayers than his predecessor did.

The FAA funding and authority are up for renewal this fall and every move made by the agency is critical. The White House and other government officials have not commented on the possible nominee yet but the potential of having a nominee that all parties can agree on can settle some of the recent unrest within the agency and industry.