FAA chief resigns, opening another spot for a Trump pick

Whitaker took over the five-year position in October 2023 at a troubled moment for the agency as it grappled with a rash of aviation near-collisions and challenges in replenishing its depleted air traffic controller workforce — all before a door panel flew off a Boeing 737 MAX midair rattling the flying public. Though the agency under Whitaker’s leadership appears to have arrested the alarming rate of near-collisions seen since travel began to rocket away from its pandemic-induced slump, it still faces significant ongoing challenges in the form of a fatigued and shorthanded air traffic controller workforce and an aviation system whose growing demand for flights is throttled by already-decrepit equipment that grows more obsolete each year. On Wednesday, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who chairs the Senate’s panel on aviation, offered kudos to Whitaker, who “has been doing an excellent job.” There’s “very bipartisan support for him,” she told reporters during a call. Rep. Rick Larsen, ranking member of the House Transportation Committee, told POLITICO he had hoped Whitaker would stay longer, calling it “unfortunate news, ‘cause Mike is doing a great job.” He said whoever Trump selects, they don’t need to “change or fix” the plan the FAA is implementing to oversee Boeing. “The next administrator needs to be ready day one to continue the job of restoring the FAA’s safety culture and providing real oversight of the aviation sector,” Sen. Maria Cantwell, the current Commerce chair, said in a statement.