David Balloff Leaving Agency For Job With Embraer

For the second time this year, a key employee in the Federal Aviation Administration is leaving the agency for bluer skies with an organization tied to the commercial airline industry.

Industry sources told ANN Tuesday David Balloff (right), currently the head of Congressional Relations at the FAA, is leaving to take a position at Brazilian planemaker Embraer. Balloff is set to start in November as Vice President of External Affairs with Embraer, where he'll be responsible for business development in the US and Canada.

He'll be based in Washington, DC. According to sources, Balloff will be replaced at the FAA by Megan Rosia, who currently works for Northwest Airlines government affairs.

As Aero-News reported in March, another FAA employee -- former assistant administrator Sharon Pinkerton -- was named vice president of government affairs for the Air Transport Association, the largest airline lobbying group in the country.

Pinkerton's move from government work, to the private sector, drew fire from many general aviation pilots... as a possible sign of collusion between the FAA and the airlines, at a time when ATA was pushing the FAA to slap user fees on general aviation pilots.

That fight is destined to pick back up as a multi-year package for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) funding and modernization programs will go before Congress next year. The ATA supports a reauthorization process, to shift from the traditional way the FAA has been funded -- on a per-use basis, with taxes on fuel -- to one based on user fees.

It's unlikely Balloff's move to Embraer will draw as much attention as Pinkerton's shift to the ATA... but it's worth noting the majority of Embraer's business comes from airlines. And then there's Rosia's background with Northwest...

Stay tuned.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.embraer.com