After my purgatory in West Chicago and three mostly great years in the Indianapolis FSDO, the FAA offered a transfer to Cincinnati. It was a bittersweet decision, and my boss, Jay Peterson, rather obliquely suggested I might want to stay put. He understood I was anxious to get back home, but he also knew the Cincinnati manager’s reputation for being a hard ass. Jay was a good man and an excellent supervisor, and he was genuinely concerned about me and “Capt. Queeg.”
Unusual Attitudes: An FAA Inspector’s Winding Career Path
Key Takeaways:
- The author transferred to Cincinnati for an Accident Prevention Specialist (APS) role, a position initially effective in reducing accident rates but later seen as a career dead-end for "slackers" or problem employees.
- Despite the role's low expectations, the author poured herself into the work, leading to frequent conflicts with her "hard ass" manager who disapproved of her independent and proactive style, issuing numerous reprimands.
- A particularly illustrative conflict involved the author overriding another inspector during a Pilot and Aircraft Courtesy Evaluation (PACE) program, earning her another reprimand for undermining authority.
- Ultimately, an overhaul of the safety program that eliminated direct pilot interaction, combined with her rejection for a new position, led the author to retire from the FAA after 28 years rather than return to routine operations work.
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