Michael G. Whitaker became FAA administrator in October 2023, and is working to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the largest aerospace system in the world.
From 2013 to 2016, Whitaker – who’s a private pilot – served as FAA deputy administrator and as chief NextGen officer, overseeing modernization of the U.S. air traffic control system.
Before becoming FAA administrator, Whitaker was chief operating officer of Supernal, a Hyundai Motor Group company designing an electric advanced air mobility (AAM) vehicle.
Whitaker also served as group CEO of travel conglomerate InterGlobe Enterprises, which operates India’s largest airline, IndiGo. He spent 15 years at United Airlines as director, vice president and senior vice president. He began his three-decade-plus career as a litigator, then as assistant general counsel of international and regulatory affairs at TWA.
Q: What more can the FAA do to ensure the safe and effective entrance of advanced air mobility (AAM) platforms into the National Airspace System (NAS)?
Whether it’s drones, space launches or AAM aircraft entering the system, we will keep safety as our number one priority. While the NAS has become more complex year by year, the FAA has a long and successful history of safely introducing new technologies.
In the FAA Office of Airports, we established a new division that has a primary focus of safely integrating new and emerging entrants into the nation’s airports, heliports and vertiports. We realize that many of these new innovative technologies push the boundaries of existing standards, policies and processes; so, the unique nature of that new division is to help bridge the gap. The division is identifying whether existing policies or standards can be leveraged, whether we need new data or research, and is working with our existing headquarters, region and field offices to shepherd those projects to completion.
“Whether it’s drones, space launches or AAM aircraft entering the system – we will keep safety as our number one priority. ”
We are also working to enable the safe integration of AAM through our work on blueprints, standards, certifications, and an implementation plan. Since September 2022, we released Vertiport Design Standards, an AAM operations blueprint, rules for training and certifying pilots and the Advanced Air Mobility Implementation Plan. Most recently, we issued two Part 135 operator certificates and the final airworthiness criteria for two aircraft.
We will continue to partner with all stakeholders to maintain aviation safety as we integrate AAM technologies and aircraft into our existing national airspace system.
Q: What efforts are being planned to ensure the agency has the workforce it needs based on projected industry growth and evolving capabilities?
As the FAA’s chief recruitment officer, one of my roles is to make the FAA an employer of choice, and I take that responsibility very seriously. I work closely with the assistant administrator of human resource management to see where we will require additional talent and workforce growth.
We recognize the importance of needing to hire faster, particularly in our core safety and mission-critical positions. In April, I announced a new program with our Collegiate Training Initiative or CTI partners. CTI schools that become FAA certified will be able to teach the Initial Qualifications course currently taught to controller trainees at the academy. These enhanced CTI graduates would be able to take the Air Traffic Skills Assessment and do their security and medical clearances while still in school. Upon qualification and graduation from as little as a two-year program, they’d be able to report directly to one of our air traffic facilities. 29 CTI schools are in the process of applying.
Like NBAA, at FAA we also focus on creating pathways for students to gain meaningful, on-the-job training and have jobs in aviation. In 2022, we launched the Tech Ops Gateways Program that allows students in engineering, computer science and technical trades to receive six months of on-the-job training in tech ops functions, particularly as airway transportation systems specialist trainees, nationwide. By providing this opportunity to receive relevant job training while still in school, we’re helping students from across America prepare and qualify for jobs in aviation that they might not be able to achieve on their own. We’ve now onboarded over 100 students and will announce another opportunity this fall.
When it comes to specific professions, we are putting a high priority on hiring more air traffic controllers. Last year we reached our hiring goal of 1,500 controllers and we are hoping to go bigger this year with a goal of 1,800. We are on track to meet that number, especially with nearly 12,800 people applying within the most recent application period. Looking ahead to FY 2025, we aim to hire 2,000 air traffic controllers. It takes a long time to make a controller, and we are hoping we will start to see some of the net gain of these efforts next year.
“Like NBAA, at FAA we also focus on creating pathways for students to gain meaningful, on-the-job training and have jobs in aviation. ”
Beyond air traffic controllers, we continue to hire in other areas of the agency. With the passing of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, since 2022, we’ve hired 542 environmental protection specialists, engineers, planners and project support staff. We continue to recruit inspectors, mechanics, and more to ensure we can meet our safety mission.
If you or someone you know is interested in joining the over 45,500 public servants at the FAA, please visit www.faa.gov/jobs.
Q: In the wake of this year’s FAA/EASA Safety Summit, and as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) prepares for the Air Navigation Conference and ICAO Triennial, what more can the FAA do to continue to provide leadership on the global stage and ensure the industry maintains the highest standards of safety?
Aviation is a team sport, and we all have a role to play. With the urgency of safety, regulations and international engagement issues, it’s the right time to take significant steps forward. On the safety front, our collaborative efforts are aimed at enhancing our data and analysis tools. By sharing best practices and lessons learned, we are collectively strengthening our safety system.
On the regulation side, we can always have different regulations in place from country to country, but they should be as compatible as possible. There are opportunities for us to work together to ensure we can align ourselves around the regulatory structures, particularly regarding new entrants coming into the market.
Our advisory circular on advanced air mobility and EASA’s [the European Union Aviation Safety Agency] guidance on special conditions for eVTOL aircraft are good examples of that.
“With the urgency of safety, regulations, and international engagement issues, it's the right time to take significant steps forward. ”
We can also look at the rulemaking process. We have some unusual restrictions around ex-parte communications, but we can do more in the pre-rulemaking stage to achieve alignment going forward.
On the international engagement front, we are fundamentally aligned on our objectives with other civil aviation organizations and need to continue working with each other to drive safety forward. Whether that’s working in coordination on the safety agenda at ICAO, promoting safety in developing countries, or sharing best practices, we want to continue partnering with international organizations and stakeholders to help build the NAS of the future.
Q: With recent FAA guidance revisions allowing aviation medical examiners more autonomy in evaluating pilot mental health, is the agency also taking a look at other related policies to make sure they support the overall mental fitness of the nation’s pilots?
The FAA has invested in several resources to eliminate the stigma around mental health in the aviation community so pilots can seek treatment. That’s part of why we formed a Mental Health and Aviation Medical Clearances Rulemaking Committee to study the issue in December 2023.
However, given the urgency of this issue, the FAA did not wait for the Mental Health and Aviation Medical Clearances Rulemaking Committee final report to begin implementing new ideas and accelerating efforts already in progress.
We approved three new mental health medications in April 2024 and updated mental health policy in May 2024 to allow aviation medical examiners (AMEs) to issue certificates to more pilots who meet certain criteria.
In April, the agency expanded the list of aeromedically acceptable antidepressants from five to eight, adding an additional drug class.
The following month, the agency expanded the list of mental health diagnoses which AMEs could issue under specified conditions from three to 13.
To that end, we continue to encourage everyone to help spread mental health awareness to the entire aviation community.
“The FAA has invested several resources to eliminate the stigma around mental health in the aviation community so pilots can seek treatment. ”
Our efforts have three main themes. I call them the 3-Es. Educate all people in the aviation community to reduce stigma and fear regarding FAA processes and policy. Early intervention is key through education, peer support networks, outreach, and, if required, treatment. Evolve medical standards as new science develops.
One of the outcomes from both our Aeromedical Certification Summit and the Aviation Rulemaking Committee was a recommendation to provide AMEs more frequent training and education, particularly when we make major changes in policy.
In May, we stood up Grand Rounds, which are monthly training sessions for AMEs to explain changes to the AME Guide.
I look forward to the agency continuing to work on this important issue.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.