Who Should be the Next FAA Administrator?

1.      John Dunkin’s qualifications according to L (2018), include:

[managing] airline and corporate flight departments, [certifying] airlines from start-up under FAA regulations, and [overseeing] the Trump presidential campaign’s air fleet, which included managing all aviation transportation for travel to 203 cities in 43 states over the course of 21 months.

In addition, he is actually a pilot, unlike many FAA administrators, such as the prior administrator Michael Huerta, and he had started flying before he received his driver’s license (Snyder et al., 2018). It has been said by officials of the Trump administration that if chosen, it would not be because of Dunkin’s ties to President Trump (even though that certainly helps!), but rather his skillset and qualifications.

2.      “Among the other candidates are the current acting head of FAA, Daniel Elwell, a former Air Force pilot who served at the agency from 2006-2008” (Levin, Natter, Beene, 2018). Elwell had worked for American Airlines, the Aerospace Industries Association, and Airlines for America in the past, and had been the FAA’s assistant administrator during the Bush administration (Snyder et al., 2018). From Levin et al. (2018), other candidates include:

Robert Sturgell, a former Navy pilot who was acting FAA administrator from 2007-2009 and is now a senior vice president at Rockwell Collins Inc. and Representative Samuel Graves, a Missouri Republican who is vying to lead the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee next year.

3.      My first choice for prior administrators, would be Michael Huerta, the last administrator who had served for 5 years. According to L (2018), his qualifications included:

[being] commissioner of New York City’s Department of Ports, International Trade and Commerce, Executive Director of the Port of San Francisco, [where] he worked in senior positions at the DOT, [and had] acted as Managing Director of the Salt Lake City Committee for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, and then was President of the Transportation Solutions Group at Affiliated Computer Services, before serving as the head of the FAA.

My next choice would be Marion Blakey, who had served from 2002 to 2007 under the Bush administration. Prior to her service as FAA administrator, she had been the principal of Blakey & Associates, a firm that dealt with transportation issues and traffic safety. She had also served as chairwoman of the NTSB for about a year, between 2001 and 2002, and held six previous presidential appointments, including the NHTSA, Department of Commerce, Department of Education, National Endowment for the Humanities, the Department of Transportation, and in the white house (Marion Blakey, 2018).

4.      The job description of the FAA administrator includes being “responsible for the safety and efficiency of the largest aerospace system in the world — a system that operates more than 50,000 flights per day…[overseeing] a $16.4 billion-dollar budget, more than 47,000 employees, [with a focus on] ensuring the agency and its employees are the best prepared and trained professionals to meet the growing demands and requirements of the industry (Daniel K. Elwell, 2018).

5.      Of course it matters who the FAA administrator is, but the qualifications necessary to fulfil the role and perform well is important. Being responsible for safety has a higher workload than other responsibilities. I know that if President Trump trusts John Dunkin enough, is well aware of his capabilities (he’s been flying Trump’s aircraft for a few decades so I’m sure the president knows how this guy operates), and believes that he’s sufficient for the role, then I’m sure he’d be a fine administrator. Donald Trump is a smart guy; while everyone makes mistakes, including some of President Trump’s choices for cabinet and other roles, I trust that he would select a person well-suited to the role, just as he does in business and choosing who to have perform his construction work.


References

Daniel K. Elwell. (2018, January 10). Retrieved March 03, 2018, from https://www.faa.gov/about/key_officials/elwell/
Levin, A., Natter, A., & Beene, R. (2018, February 28). Trump's Personal Pilot Meets Key Quality for FAA Job: Loyalty. Retrieved March 03, 2018, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-28/trump-s-personal-pilot-meets-key-quality-for-faa-job-loyalty
Marion Blakey. (2018, January 17). Retrieved March 03, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Blakey#FAA_Administrator
SNYDER, B. G., Everett, B., Schor, E., Kruse, M., Tucker, T., Shafer, J., & Chua, A. (2018, February 26). Skepticism reigns about putting Trump's pilot in charge of FAA. Retrieved March 03, 2018, from https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/26/trump-pilot-faa-post-skepticism-366199
L. (2018, February 25). Trump Wants To Appoint His Personal Pilot As Head Of The FAA. Retrieved March 03, 2018, from http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2018/02/25/trump-personal-pilot-head-of-faa/

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 5, 2018 at 10:59 AM

    Good Information on current and previous heads of the FAA. My only worries is that, the last time President Trump and Dunkin did business in the aviation industry, the business hit rock bottom when it wasn't turning a profit. Yes, many factors, including high oil prices due to conflicts in the middle east, and other poor investments from Trump led to the sales of the airplanes to cover other losses he was facing. The past is the past but with that consideration, maybe continuing with the acting head, who was also previously a pilot and has been with the FAA for awhile now, might be whats best for the industry today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AustinMarch 5, 2018 at 12:54 PM

      I did take that prior airline into consideration. However, a business doesn't typically fail because of one person, but a myriad of factors so I wouldn't chalk that airline's failure to being Dunkin's fault. With that said, you did bring up a good point in that why should one be trusted to head the FAA if they had 'failed' to run a prior business. That's the narrow view of what happened, but I assume there where other factors, such as oil prices and poorly performing Trump investments at the time, as you stated.

      Delete
  2. FourthGenFlyingMarch 5, 2018 at 11:39 AM

    I agreed with your point that Trump would have the best insight of Dunkin's capabilities since he has employed him as a pilot for so long. Being a pilot seems like an important element of qualification to lead an organization that oversees aviation. From what you found, and my own research, Dunkin seems capable of running the FAA.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AustinMarch 5, 2018 at 12:56 PM

      Most definitely. Are there more qualified candidates out there? Sure. But, Trump knows this candidate from many years of employing him and they would work well together.

      Delete
  3. UnknownMarch 5, 2018 at 12:58 PM

    Although it is not up to the President to confirm the administrator, being nominated by him can have its ups or downs. Seeing as Dunkin has been flying Trump since 1989, that is a lot of history between the two. The democrats on major issues have been known to all vote against Trump. And seeing as Dunkin is Trumps personal pilot, I don't see this going any differently. Yes we all do make mistakes but this is the lives of millions of people a year at stake. It is something that should not be taken lightly.

    ReplyDelete

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