Four Selected For Leadership Roles

The FAA has named new Regional Administrators in four regions of the country: Southwest, Southern, Eastern and Northwest Mountain.

Regional Administrators represent the Administrator and the agency outside Washington, and stay aware of pertinent issues in their regions.

Terry Biggio has been named the new Southwest Regional Administrator. He was appointed Air Traffic Organization's Vice President for Safety and Technical Training in August 2015. As Vice President for Safety and Technical Training, Biggio has been responsible for integrating the Safety Management System and safety standards into the Air Traffic Organization. He led organizational efforts to manage risk, assure quality standards, instill an open culture of disclosure, educate employees and promote continuous improvement. Biggio also leads the agency's technical training and certification of air traffic controllers and technicians. He brings more than 35 years experience with the agency to his new role.

Michael O'Harra is the new Southern Regional Administrator. O'Harra was appointed Deputy Regional Administrator for the Southwest Region in February 2008. Mr. O'Harra contributes to the leadership of FAA efforts within the five-state region including Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, and also serves as the Regional Emergency Transportation Coordinator (RETCO) for the Department of Transportation's Region 6. In his RETCO role, Mr. O'Harra provides executive leadership to ensure transportation emergency planning and response for incidents of national significance.

O'Harra previously served as the acting Chief Information Officer for the FAA Regions and Center Operations (ARC) organization for a year, where he provided leadership and direction for Information Technology infrastructure, applications, security, service delivery and support in the nine regional offices and in headquarters. Mr. O'Harra also served for six years as the Manager, Operational Integration for ARC Headquarters, where he was instrumental in the development of the Runway Template Action Plan (RTAP) and associated program management tools for major capacity initiatives.

Jennifer Solomon has been named the new Eastern Regional Administrator. Solomon was appointed Assistant Administrator for Policy, International Affairs, Environment, and Energy (APL), at the FAA in June 2016. As Assistant Administrator for Policy, International Affairs, Environment, and Energy, FAA, Solomon has been responsible for leading the FAA's efforts to foster the safety and capacity of the global aerospace system in an environmentally sound manner. She has been focused on FAA's reauthorization efforts, corporate management of international engagement through the FAA's Global Leadership Initiative (GLI), and overseeing the agency's environmental activities and initiatives in NextGen and ICAO.

David Suomi will become the new Northwest Mountain Regional Administrator, where he has been acting Regional Administrator. In this capacity, he serves as the principal representative of the FAA Administrator and the senior FAA officials in the region. He provides corporate leadership in cross-organizational matters and represents the FAA before industry, the public and governmental organizations. David also serves as the US Department of Transportation (DOT) Regional Transportation Coordinator (RETCO) designated to carry out critical functions for DOT in response to disasters as documented in the National Response Framework.

Immediately prior to his current role, Suomi served as the national Manager of the FAA's Airport Improvement Program, a $3.5 billion annual infrastructure grant program to aid airport owners finance critical aviation infrastructure. The program is funded through the Aviation Trust Fund. David oversaw project identification, prioritization, eligibility and ultimate grant obligation for approximately 2,500 grants annually. Suomi has more than 13 years of FAA experience, and over 40 years in aviation.

(Source: FAA)

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