Former FAA Administrator Replaces Director Durham

It's official, Canadian aircraft maker Bombardier Inc. has appointed Jane Garvey to its board of directors a former head of the FAA who was in charge during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"Bombardier is always looking out to increase (female) representation," said company spokesman Jean-Philippe Cote. "In this case, it happens that the skills are there, the experience is there, so we're very happy we can in fact nominate a woman to that position. But the skills are first."

Shareholder watchdog group Medac had proposed during Bombardier's last annual meeting in March that one-third of the board be women, according to The Canadian Press. Former FAA administrator Garvey will replace Michael Durham as an independent director. Bombardier said Durham the 55-year-old founder of consulting firm Cognizant Associates Inc. and former American Airlines executive had been a director since 2005.

"Her in-depth knowledge of the aviation community and expertise in the transportation sector will be of great benefit to the corporation," said Mr. Laurent Beaudoin, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Bombardier Inc. according to a company release.

Garvey headed the FAA in 2001, when thousands of airplanes were grounded after terrorist's crashed aircraft into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field. Garvey was appointed in 1997 by former President Clinton and served until 2002 as the first five-year term administrator of the FAA.

Garvey has also headed the Federal Highway Administration and was director of Boston's Logan International Airport and commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Works. She has also been a lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Transportation and Logistics.

Garvey will be one of nine independent members on the 15-member board. This makes Garvey only the second non-family female on the board. Jalynn Bennett served for two years until December 2004 and company founder Joseph-Armand Bombardier's daughter Janine, 72, is a current board member.

Bombardier is the world's third-largest maker of airliners.

FMI: www.aerospace.bombardier.com/en/3_0/index.html