The latest aviation internet
news has been buzzing with articles about United States President Donald Trump’s
preference of his long time personal pilot to be appointed as the next Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator.
Web article published
by Axios on February 25th, 2018 titled, “Exclusive: Trump privately pushing
personal pilot to run FAA” written by Jonathan Swan, describes President Trump’s
personal pilot John Dunkin and reports his candidacy qualifications for yet to
be appointed FAA Administrator position (Swan, 2018):
The
president’s personal pilot is on the administration's short list to head the
Federal Aviation Administration. Trump has told a host of administration
officials and associates that he wants John Dunkin — his longtime personal
pilot, who flew him around the country on Trump Force One during the campaign —
to helm the agency, which has a budget in the billions and which oversees all
civil aviation in the United States.
In
response to my questions for this story, another administration source stressed
that while no decision has been made, Dunkin has the appropriate experience to
get the job.
“John
Dunkin isn’t just a pilot," the administration official told me.
"He’s managed airline and corporate flight departments, certified airlines
from start-up under FAA regulations, and oversaw the Trump presidential
campaign’s air fleet, which included managing all aviation transportation for
travel to 203 cities in 43 states over the course of 21 months.”
Other
candidates for the position, per my sources, include Rep. Sam Graves, a
Missouri Republican; and current acting FAA Administrator Dan Elwell, who has
impressed many in the administration and the industry (Swan, 2018).
The following remarks
by President Donald Trump in meeting with the aviation industry on February 9th,
2017 supported strong opinions of his personal pilot John Dunkin’s merits (United
States, Office of the Press Secretary, 2017):
And
I can tell you that a lot of the new equipment that already is obsolete the day
they order it — and that’s according to people that know, including my pilot. I
have a pilot who’s a real expert, and he said, sir, the equipment they’re
putting on is just the wrong stuff. And we’ll talk about that. Because if we’re
going to modernize our systems, we should be using the right equipment. And I
know Mr. Tilden is nodding. You know what I mean. It’s one thing to order
equipment, but let’s order the right equipment. Probably the wrong equipment
costs more. You can probably buy the right equipment for less money. So we want
to talk about that. Because my pilot, he’s a smart guy, and knows what’s going
on. He said the government is using the wrong equipment and instituting a
massive, multibillion-dollar project, but they’re using the wrong type of
equipment. So let’s find out about that (United States, Office of the Press
Secretary, 2017).
The President was
speaking regarding the FAA NextGen system which has not yet rolled out and is
still undergoing research, development, and system testing.
Further research
revealed that the qualifications for FAA Administrator appointment are not
exceptionally restrictive. One might, as I had done, assume that it would be a position
requiring advanced qualifications for eligibility. Contrarily, an FAA
Administrator appointment is actually quite accessible by many with its relatively
simple minimum standards of qualification.
According to United States Code, Title 49 U.S.C. § 106 (U.S.C., 2018):
Federal
Aviation Administration §106. Federal Aviation Administration
(a)
The Federal Aviation Administration is an administration in the Department of
Transportation.
(b)
The head of the Administration is the Administrator, who shall be appointed by
the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. When making an
appointment, the President shall consider the fitness of the individual to
carry out efficiently the duties and powers of the office. Except as provided
in subsection (f) or in other provisions of law, the Administrator reports
directly to the Secretary of Transportation. The term of office for any
individual appointed as Administrator after August 23, 1994, shall be 5 years.
(c)
The Administrator must-
(1)
be a citizen of the United States;
(2)
be a civilian; and
(3)
have experience in a field directly related to aviation (U.S.C., 2018).
By the letter of United
States Law, John Dunkin, seems qualified in his candidacy for FAA Administrator
appointment. That is, if John Dunkin is in fact a civilian US citizen with
aviation related experience; then they are indeed qualified.
The current FAA Acting
Administrator Daniel K Elwell was previously the FAA Deputy Administrator. Elwell,
a former American Airlines pilot of 16 years and retired U.S. Air Force pilot veteran;
appointed following completion of previous FAA Administrator Michael Huerta’s
five-year term as the FAA head. Former President Barack Obama appointed Huerta,
who was also the then FAA Deputy Administrator, in response to incumbent FAA
Administrator Randy Babbitt’s abrupt mid-term resignation.
In 2011 Babbitt was arrested and charged with
driving while intoxicated (DWI) in Virginia and resigned from his administrator
position shortly thereafter. Before his appointment as FAA Administrator he was
a former airline pilot, Eastern Air Lines for 25 years, and previously served in
executive roles for the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). It should be noted
that Babbitt’s DWI charges were subsequently dismissed and continued along the
path of his long career history within the aviation industry. Current, FAA Acting
Administrator Elwell is widely considered as a well-respected head overseeing
the administration. However, is only serving as such in interim until the next appointed
FAA Administrator is officially sworn into office.
It is only appropriate
to lay out the legal authority and expectations of the FAA Administrator with continued
excerpt from United States Code, Title 49 U.S.C. § 106 (U.S.C., 2018):
(d)(1)
The Administration has a Deputy Administrator, who shall be appointed by the
President. In making an appointment, the President shall consider the fitness
of the appointee to efficiently carry out the duties and powers of the office.
The Deputy Administrator shall be a citizen of the United States and have
experience in a field directly related to aviation. An officer on active duty
in an armed force may be appointed as Deputy Administrator. However, if the
Administrator is a former regular officer of an armed force, the Deputy
Administrator may not be an officer on active duty in an armed force, a retired
regular officer of an armed force, or a former regular officer of an armed
force.
(2)
The annual rate of basic pay of the Deputy Administrator shall be set by the
Secretary but shall not exceed the annual rate of basic pay payable to the
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.
(3)
An officer on active duty or a retired officer serving as Deputy Administrator
is entitled to hold a rank and grade not lower than that held when appointed as
Deputy Administrator. The Deputy Administrator may elect to receive (A) the pay
provided by law for the Deputy Administrator, or (B) the pay and allowances or
the retired pay of the military grade held. If the Deputy Administrator elects
to receive the military pay and allowances or retired pay, the Administration
shall reimburse the appropriate military department from funds available for
the expenses of the Administration.
(4)
The appointment and service of a member of the armed forces as a Deputy
Administrator does not affect the status, office, rank, or grade held by that
member, or a right or benefit arising from the status, office, rank, or grade.
The Secretary of a military department does not control the member when the
member is carrying out duties and powers of the Deputy Administrator.
(e)
The Administrator and the Deputy Administrator may not have a pecuniary
interest in, or own stock in or bonds of, an aeronautical enterprise, or engage
in another business, vocation, or employment.
(f)
Authority of the Secretary and the Administrator.-
(1)
Authority of the secretary.-Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary of
Transportation shall carry out the duties and powers, and controls the
personnel and activities, of the Administration. Neither the Secretary nor the
Administrator may submit decisions for the approval of, or be bound by the
decisions or recommendations of, a committee, board, or organization established
by executive order.
(2)
Authority of the administrator.-The Administrator-
(A)
is the final authority for carrying out all functions, powers, and duties of the
Administration relating to-
(i)
the appointment and employment of all officers and employees of the
Administration (other than Presidential and political appointees);
(ii)
the acquisition and maintenance of property, services, and equipment of the
Administration;
(iii)
except as otherwise provided in paragraph (3), the promulgation of regulations,
rules, orders, circulars, bulletins, and other official publications of the
Administration; and
(iv)
any obligation imposed on the Administrator, or power conferred on the
Administrator, by the Air Traffic Management System Performance Improvement Act
of 1996 (or any amendment made by that Act);
(B)
shall offer advice and counsel to the President with respect to the appointment
and qualifications of any officer or employee of the Administration to be
appointed by the President or as a political appointee;
(C)
may delegate, and authorize successive redelegations of, to an officer or
employee of the Administration any function, power, or duty conferred upon the
Administrator, unless such delegation is prohibited by law; and
(D)
except as otherwise provided for in this title, and notwithstanding any other
provision of law, shall not be required to coordinate, submit for approval or
concurrence, or seek the advice or views of the Secretary or any other officer
or employee of the Department of Transportation on any matter with respect to
which the Administrator is the final authority (U.S.C., 2018).
Now, in all honesty,
you probably skipped all of that U.S.C. legalese. So, in a medium sized nutshell,
the FAA Administrator, appointed by the President of the United States of
America, serves under the authority of the Secretary of Transportation, as the
head of the FAA. Tasked with leadership, oversight, and assurance of the FAA,
officers, employees, committees, and every other facet by which the administration
is comprised.
Ultimately, they
promote the FAA Mission: “Our continuing mission is to provide the safest, most
efficient aerospace system in the world.” The FAA administrator position is truly
important as it carries an incredibly powerful measure of individual influence and
impact over the aerospace system here in the United States and also upon other
national aerospace systems abroad which are generally modeled and follow suit
with the FAA.
In closing, the actions
of this singly powerful individual do have an ability to send bureaucratic
ripples around the aviation systems of the world. Yet, these systems are generally
well insulated from any such wildly divergent actions by single powerful actors
from generally agreed upon societal standards and norms, whether by an FAA Administrator
or even a national head of state, through in-built systems of checks and balances.
With that being said, I believe that one shouldn't worry too much. Go with
the flow, yet, definitely stand up for the good fights, and always remember that
the only guarantee in life is that everything changes in time.
-Aviator in Progress
Swan,
J. (2018). Exclusive: Trump privately pushing personal pilot to run FAA. Axios.
Retrieved from https://www.axios.com/exclusive-trump-privately-pushing-personal-pilot-to-run-faa-1519595187-5a735cc4-63e6-4348-b980-1aadf0b8e80d.html
United
States, Office of the Press Secretary. (2017). Remarks by President Trump in
meeting with the aviation industry. United States, Office of the Press
Secretary. Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-meeting-aviation-industry/
U.S.C.
(2018). United States Code, Title 49 U.S.C. § 106. Retrieved from http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title49-section106&num=0&edition=prelim
