Have Asked Stephen Dickson For Responses To Additional Questions In Writing

Two Democratic U.S. Senators have requested that President Trump's nominee for FAA administrator answer additional questions in writing after revelations of his involvement in a whistleblower lawsuit against his former employer, Delta Air Lines.

CNN reports that Dickson (pictured) did not disclose that he was involved in a whistleblower retaliation case filed by a pilot against the carrier where Dickson served as senior vice president of flight operations. The suit claims that rather that take her safety concerns seriously, the pilot was forced into a psychiatric evaluation and grounded for more than a year.

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said in documents released Tuesday that the issue is "potentially disqualifying". Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the ranking minority member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said the nondisclosure was a "failure". The also said the underlying allegations of the lawsuit were concerning. "Further, the facts related to the whistleblower claim are troublesome and suggest at least the possibility that the claim of retaliation has merit," Cantwell wrote.

In a written response to the Senators, Dickson said because he is not named as a party in the lawsuit, he was not required to disclose the information. He also said that he had only limited interactions with the pilot. In responding to the follow-up questions, Dickson said that both the Department of Transportation and the White House told him that he was not required to disclose legal proceedings involving the airlines in which he is not a defendant.

"My goal has been to be as transparent as possible throughout this entire process," Dickson said.

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report