Biden’s pick to head FAA under fire along with administration

Pressure is mounting on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after several high-profile incidents created headaches for travelers and President Biden’s nominee, Phil Washington, faces a contentious confirmation process for the agency’s top job is set to get underway.

Millions of air travelers were left stranded at airports across the country during the holiday season when the Southwest Airlines crew scheduling system collapsed, eliciting a probe by the Dept. of Transportation (DOT), which is the FAA’s parent agency. 

Flights around the country were temporarily grounded last week after an outage in the FAA’s Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system, which alerts pilots and other personnel about airborne issues and airport delays, resulting in the cancellation of more than 1,000 flights canceled and thousands more delayed. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and FAA officials are investigating the computer failure.

Landing airplane (iStock)

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Adding to the agency’s woes, a near-disaster was averted at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport on Friday when air traffic controllers saw an American Airlines Boeing 777 taxiing across the runway that a Delta Boeing 737 was using to take off. The FAA told FOX Business that the Delta flight managed to stop its takeoff roll “approximately 1,000 feet” before reaching the American flight. The agency is investigating the incident in conjunction with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Those incidents have prompted increased scrutiny of the FAA’s operations and drawn attention to the fact that the agency has been without a Senate-confirmed administrator since March 2022, when Trump-era administrator Stephen Dickson stepped down and was replaced by Acting Administrator Billy Nolen.

Passengers walk past a flight status board in Terminal C at Orlando International Airport that shows many delays, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, after the FAA grounded all U.S. flights earlier in the day. Flights were grounded nationwide for the first tim (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images / Getty Images)

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Biden nominated Washington to lead the FAA in July 2022, but his confirmation quickly stalled amid questions about his qualifications, and the previous Congress ended before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee held a hearing on his nomination.

Critics of Washington’s nomination have noted that he has limited experience in the aviation industry, having served as CEO of Denver International Airport (DIA) since June 2021. Previously, Washington’s experience was focused on public transportation systems in metro areas, as he led the Denver area’s Regional Transportation District (RTD) from 2009 to 2015 and then led the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) from 2015 to 2021, when he was picked to lead the DIA.

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A few days after he began his role at DIA, it was revealed that Washington was connected to a law enforcement investigation into corruption allegations at LACMTA after a sole-sourced, no-bid contract to run the agency’s sexual harassment hotline was awarded multiple times to a charity connected to a close friend and campaign donor of an L.A. County Supervisor and LACMTA board member. The hotline was found to cost over $8,000 per call it received. Washington has denied wrongdoing and the DIA voiced continued support for him to lead the airport following the revelations.

Baggage waits to be claimed after canceled flights at the Southwest Airlines terminal at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday, Dec. 26, 2022, in Los Angeles.  (AP Photo/Eugene Garcia / AP Images)

Despite those headwinds, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Sunday that he intends to “break this logjam” and “clear the runway” for Washington’s nomination and added, “With recent events, including airline troubles and last week’s tech problem, this agency needs a leader confirmed by the Senate immediately.”

It’s unclear whether support from Schumer and other Democrats will be enough to get Washington’s nomination through the narrowly divided Senate. If Republican senators unanimously oppose the nomination, it would only take two Democratic senators to join them and tank the nomination.

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After the FAA’s ground stop last week, Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) tweeted: “Today’s FAA action to halt all U.S. flights underscores this agency’s first mission is safety. But Phil Washington, President Biden’s pick to lead [the FAA] has no safety or aviation experience. We can’t leave the flying public’s wellbeing up to change. We need a new nominee.”