The White House said Thursday that President Joe Biden would nominate former aviation regulator and United Airlines executive Michael Whitaker to lead the Federal Aviation Administration, an announcement months in the waiting after Senate Republicans disapproved of the administration’s previous pick.
Whitaker is CEO of Supernal, a Hyundai Motor Group company designing an electric advanced air mobility vehicle. He was the FAA’s deputy administrator from 2013 to 2016 and acted as chief of the agency’s air traffic control modernization effort known as NextGen. His resume includes 15 years at United Airlines, where he eventually became senior vice president.
Whitaker is also a pilot, a fact that might prove important to Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who criticized Biden’s previous FAA pick for never having piloted a plane.
Cruz said in a statement he would look at Whitaker’s “qualifications, experience, and temperament.”
The FAA hasn’t had an administrator confirmed by the Senate for over a year and a half, but the announcement arrives during a tense time for aviation in Congress. Not only are lawmakers fielding constituent complaints of summer air travel woes, but the Senate is also struggling to pass an FAA reauthorization bill because of aviation policy disagreements.
Industry leaders and unions are already praising Whitaker for his aviation experience and urging the Senate to quickly confirm him.
“Our national air transportation system needs attention,” Sara Nelson, president of flight attendant union Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, said in a statement. “Perhaps more than any other time in aviation history, it is urgent that we have a confirmed FAA Administrator. Whitaker has the experience to step into the role and immediately lead us forward.”