Michael G. Whitaker, vp of alliances, UAL Corp., testifies before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation regarding the US and European Union Open Skies Agreement in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, February 8, 2006.
J. Carrier | Bloomberg | Getty Images
President Joe Biden will nominate a former Obama administration official to guide the Federal Aviation Administration after his first selection withdrew within the face of Republican opposition nearly six months ago.
The White House said Thursday that Biden will nominate Michael G. Whitaker, a former deputy administrator on the FAA, and currently the chief operating officer of a Hyundai affiliate working to develop an air taxi aircraft.
The FAA, which regulates airline safety and manages the nation’s airspace, has been run by back-to-back acting administrators since March 2022.
The FAA faces various challenges including a shortage of air traffic controllers, aging technology, and alarm over close calls between planes at major airports. As well as, Congress is deliberating over laws that can direct the agency’s operations for the subsequent five years.
Whitaker worked as a lawyer for TWA, which was absorbed by American Airlines, spent 15 years at United Airlines where he became a senior vp and oversaw international and regulatory affairs, then moved to InterGlobe, a travel company in India.
Whitaker was deputy FAA administrator – a job that doesn’t require Senate approval – from 2013 to 2016. He’s currently the chief business officer for Supernal, a Hyundai subsidiary that’s working on an electric-powered air taxi — which would want FAA certification to fly in the US.
Last yr, Biden nominated Denver International Airport CEO Phillip Washington, but he withdrew in March after his nomination stalled within the Senate Commerce Committee. Republicans and independent Kyrsten Sinema argued that Washington lacked adequate aviation experience — his background is generally in city transit systems, having held the Denver airport job only since mid-2021.
