Michael Whitaker, President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), was well-received at his Oct. 4 confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
Whitaker’s confirmation would end 18 months of the aviation agency being run by acting administrators.
Biden last month selected Whitaker – the former deputy administrator at the FAA from 2013 to 2016 – to fill the FAA’s top job. Whitaker, who has been widely praised by industry leaders, has three decades of experience in aviation.
Ahead of his confirmation hearing, the Department of Transportation endorsed Whitaker, saying that “he knows how to work in government and across the aviation community to get big things done. The FAA needs a confirmed Administrator – and Mike Whitaker is the right person for the job.”
Whitaker has drawn “broad support, not only from across the aisle, but from across the aviation community,” said Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., at the hearing.
Other committee Democrats also are expected to back Whitaker. He also drew an endorsement from Sen. Jerry Moran, a Republican from Kansas, who said he would vote for Whitaker and would “encourage my colleagues to do so as well.”
Whitaker said, if confirmed, his top three priorities at the aviation agency would be safety, innovation, and workforce.
“First, I will work to not just maintain the safety record we have collectively achieved, but build upon it,” Whitaker testified. “Second, we need to build the aviation system of the future. This requires the FAA to be agile and creative, and for all of us to make ongoing investments.”
“Third, none of this can be achieved without making the FAA a place of choice where aviators want to build their careers,” he concluded.
Senators from both major parties emphasized the need for stable leadership at the agency. Whitaker was introduced by Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., chairman of the House Transportation Committee, who said consistency is key to ensuring safety.
“Unfortunately, the only thing that has been consistent at the agency since the former admin. departed is the growing list of acting positions,” Graves said.
Whitaker is Biden’s second FAA nominee. Last year the President named Phillip A. Washington, Denver International Airport’s CEO, as his choice.
But last March, Washington withdrew as a candidate for the top FAA job, after facing serious opposition at his long-awaited confirmation hearing from the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. One criticism was that Washington did not have the aviation background needed for the administrator’s post.
Sen. Cantwell noted that she hopes Whitaker’s confirmation moves more quickly, holding a vote on his nomination shortly after the Oct. 16 deadline for Whitaker to submit answers to lawmakers’ written questions.
FAA Reauthorization Bill Still in the Works
If confirmed, Whitaker would step into the agency at a difficult time.
The year began with the failure of an FAA computer system that led to the first nationwide halt in air travel since the Sept. 11 attacks, amid a spate of near miss incidents involving airliners.
The agency is also grappling with a shortage of air traffic controllers and is operating under a short-term extension of its authorizing law, set to expire at the end of the calendar year.
The House of Representatives this summer approved a new five-year FAA bill on a strong bipartisan 351-69 vote.
The Senate has lagged behind the House. In June, Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee leadership introduced their five-year FAA reauthorization proposal, but three days later Sen. Cantwell suddenly postponed a scheduled committee voting session on the measure.
There has been no evident Senate progress on the legislation since then, but at Whitaker’s hearing, Sen. Cantwell said she hoped to finalize aviation legislation and see it signed into law by the end of the year.
