Next U.S. aviation safety chief will face Boeing, reform challenges
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[February 18, 2022] By
David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The next head of the
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will face challenges
overseeing Boeing Co and a series of reforms mandated by Congress in the
wake of two fatal 737 MAX crashes.
The job opened late Wednesday when the FAA announced administrator Steve
Dickson, 64, would resign effective March 31, about halfway through his
five-year term.
Among those mentioned by congressional and industry officials as
potential replacements are former pilots C. B. "Sully" Sullenberger and
Lee Moak.
Sullenberger, the current U.S. representative on the Council of the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), rose to fame in 2009
when he safely landed an Airbus A320 on New York's Hudson River after
hitting a flock of geese - known as the "Miracle on the Hudson" flight.
Moak, a former president of the Air Line Pilots Association, is
currently a member of the U.S. Postal Board of Governors.
Dickson headed the FAA as it oversaw a comprehensive review of the
then-grounded Boeing 737 MAX. He took a hard line, warning in late 2019
that Boeing was pursuing "a return-to-service schedule that is not
realistic."
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Dickson even piloted the plane in September 2020 for a test flight
before approving its return that included extensive training and
software updates.
The best-selling, single-aisle airplane was grounded for 20 months after
two crashes killed 346 people in the space of five months, returning to
service in late 2020.
Congress approved sweeping legislation in December that year, boosting
the FAA's oversight of aircraft manufacturers, requiring disclosure of
critical safety information and providing new whistleblower protections.
Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell said in a statement on
Thursday "there is much work still to do to maintain America’s
leadership in aviation- implementing congressionally-mandated safety
reforms, training a workforce skilled in advanced technology, and
furthering aerospace research and development."
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![](../images/021822PIX/busine17.jpg)
Steve Dickson, Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration,
speaks at the UK Aviation Club about the Boeing 737 MAX, in London,
Britain, February 6, 2020. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls
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The incoming administrator will also face the headache of the deployment of 5G
wireless on the C-Band spectrum, an issue that saw major international airlines
scramble to cancel or rejig U.S flights last month amid warnings the network
could interfere with sensitive aviation electronics like radio altimeters.
Telecommunications companies AT&T and Verizon agreed to keep 5G towers off last
month's network rollout, postponing their deployment until early July, and to
take "additional steps to minimize energy coming from 5G base stations – both
nationwide and to an even greater degree around public airports and heliports."
The FAA recently conducted test flights with active 5G, carrying AT&T and
Verizon engineers onboard, and the agency is "still doing the analytics right
now," Dickson said. "It's really unprecedented for us to be working with an
industry that we don't regulate.... That is part of what needed to happen."
Dickson said on Thursday Boeing has made significant changes in recent years and
with the FAA the airplane manufacturer "really improved the discipline within
their engineering organization and I am confident in our oversight of their
product."
The FAA is still scrutinizing a number of issues involving Boeing airplanes and
on Tuesday said it would not allow Boeing to self-certify 787 Dreamliners.
Boeing agreed to a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department in
January 2021 including $2.5 billion in fines and compensation stemming from the
737 MAX crashes.
House Transportation Committee chair Peter DeFazio said President Joe Biden
"must now nominate a new leader committed to the highest standards of aviation
safety" and "hold Boeing accountable for the tragic consequences of their
decision to put profits over people when rolling out the 737 MAX."
Dickson said Thursday his safety team "knows that I have their back."
(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jane Wardell)
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