The Once and Future Fed

In a crystalline instantiation of its true self, the Biden administration is eyeing Mike Whitaker, a former Obama-era Federal Aviation Administration official, to supersede Phil Washington as its nominee for the FAA Administrator position.

Washington withdrew from contention for the top FAA job after Republican lawmakers brought to light his abject ignorance of the aviation and aerospace industries and the regulatory frameworks under which they operate.

Whitaker, a lawyer by training, joined the FAA in 2013 as the agency’s deputy administrator and chief NextGen officer, a capacity in which he was responsible for modernizing the United States’ air traffic control system—a task in which he apparently failed.

On Friday, 21 April 2023, Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen announced in an intra-agency memo that he intends to leave his post within a period of time measurable in months.

Mr. Nolen wrote: “I have given everything to this agency, and now it’s time to do the same for my family, who have sacrificed so much and supported me during my time at the FAA.”

Nolen’s departure will exacerbate the paucity of stable leadership by which the FAA has been afflicted for over a year. Currently, a number of the agency’s key offices are occupied by officials working in acting capacities. What’s more, the FAA neither has nor is developing a leadership succession protocol. Deputy FAA Administrator Bradley Mims, for example, has been with the agency longer than Mr. Nolen. Nevertheless, the Biden White House named Nolen Acting FAA Administrator.

According to unnamed persons reportedly familiar with matter, the leadership gap occasioned by Nolen’s exodus will likely be bridged by current FAA chief of staff Katie Thomson, a onetime Amazon executive whose CV includes stints in the attorney corps of both the FAA and the DOT.

Currently, Whitaker is in the employ of Hyundai subsidiary Supernal, which he serves in the capacity of Chief Operating Officer. Supernal is one of a multitude of companies developing Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) platforms by which they assert en masse that regional flight is to be rendered universally accessible.

Prior to his brief 2013-2016 stretch with the FAA, Whitaker passed twenty-years in the aviation industry, functioning as a lawyer for both TWA and United airlines. Whitaker served, also, as group CEO of InterGlobe Enterprises, the parent company of India’s IndiGo airline.

Asked during a 2023 radio interview why the FAA continues to make use of antiquated technologies, Whitaker set forth: “It is a complicated question. They [the FAA] definitely need new investment. They need new technology. They're subject to a funding model that's pretty inconsistent. Congress passes authorizations. They pass budgets. Those are inconsistent. They're not predictable. They're short-term. And then you have things like government shutdowns that interfere with the process. So you need investment. You don't have a stable source of funding. And you need investment not just to keep the current system running, but to accommodate new technologies, like flying air taxis.”

Whitaker, who holds a Private Pilot certificate and believes the FAA wants for “stable leadership,” stated: “I think the acting administrator has done a great job. But it is a time of transition—a lot of new startups in this space who are hiring from the FAA. They need to build the bench. So I think it is important to invest in the people as well.”

FMI: www.faa.gov