Former ALPA President Offered Job Weeks Ago, Sources Say
It appears we're close to
learning who the next person to lead the Federal Aviation
Administration will be. Citing unidentified industry officials and
others close to the matter, the Wall Street Journal reports former
pilots union leader Randy Babbitt has been tapped to lead the
agency.
Babbitt served as president of the Air Line Pilots Association
for much of the 1990s, and most recently served as an industry
consultant -- first independently, then as part of the larger firm
Oliver Wyman. He was first rumored to be a top candidate
for the FAA job last month,
as ANN reported.
Reports indicate the Obama administration formally offered
Babbitt the job weeks ago, pending a detailed background and
financial disclosure vetting process. That timeframe has reportedly
been moved up, however... as the lack of a full-time FAA
Administrator has looked increasingly conspicuous in the face of a
recent series of high-profile aviation accidents.
Acting Administrator Lynne A. Osmus has filled the post since
January; before that, Bobby Sturgell was the Bush administration's
choice to succeed Marion Blakey, but his confirmation was shot down
by the Senate... leaving Sturgell to fill the job in a lame duck
capacity until a new presidential administration came to town.
The WSJ indicated an announcement was expected as early as
Tuesday evening... but that time came and went with no formal
confirmation.
If selected, Babbitt faces the daunting task of finding a
compromise agreement between agency interests and labor groups,
chief among those being the air traffic controllers union. For
months, analysts have believed a former union leader would be
tapped for the top job at FAA, specifically for their experience in
dealing with labor negotiations...
though early speculation had Duane Woerth,
also a former ALPA President, as Obama's pick for the job.
Babbitt will also be the agency's pointman on the contentious
issue of how to fund the FAA, as well as how to proceed with the
agency's oft-touted "NextGen" air traffic control system.
If Babbitt is selected, his confirmation is likely, though not
guaranteed. The WSJ notes Babbitt's past status as a registered
lobbyist might raise eyebrows on Capitol Hill, particularly in
light of Obama's (ill-realized) campaign promise to keep lobbyists
out of key government positions.
Babbitt was a registered lobbyist for the Phoenix aviation
department from 2003-2007... though he claims he never lobbied on
behalf of his clients when it came to legislative matters, and says
he only registered as a lobbyist "to be on the safe side."
More recently, Babbitt served on the government commission last
year that investigated the FAA's oversight of airline maintenance
practices.