It’s been more than a year since FAA Administrator Steve Dickson left the agency just more than halfway through his five-year term. Then-Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Billy Nolen became the Acting Administrator when Dickson took off, and he’s about to throw in the towel also, announcing in late April he will “depart as soon as a new nominee is named this summer.” Nolen told his colleagues, “I have given everything to this agency, and now it’s time to do the same for my family, who have sacrificed so much and supported me during my time at the FAA.”
The thing is, the Biden Administration named a nominee to the post, Phil Washington, back in July 2022. He’s the Denver International Airport’s CEO but didn’t survive the U.S. Senate’s confirmation process, and ended up withdrawing himself from consideration in March. As this is written in late April, no new FAA Administrator has been nominated. Hopefully, that will have changed by the time you read this.
