UPDATE: The Associated Press reports that Deputy Administrator Michael Huerta will serve as the FAA’s acting administrator following Randy Babbitt’s resignation Tuesday.
Wednesday. Dec. 7 (7:30am)
The man under whose guidance this country’s aviation system recorded one of the safest stretches in its history resigned yesterday, this in the wake a drunk driving charge.
FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt handed in his resignation after being stopped over the weekend by police in suburban Washington, DC while driving on the wrong side of the road. He failed a sobriety test according to police.
In the wake of the arrest Babbitt’s boss, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, said he “was very disappointed,” specifically because he learned of he incident only when Fairfax City, Virginia police issued a press release about the incident.
Saying that he was “unwilling to let anything cast a shadow on the outstanding work done 24 hours a day, seven days a week by my colleagues at the FAA,” Babbitt decided to step down.
A former Eastern Airlines pilot and president of the Air Line Pilots Association, Babbitt helped infuse, and further nourish, a culture of safety at the FAA – one which has contributed to this country’s extraordinary aviation safety record. Consider, it has been almost three years since there’s been a major commercial airline crash in the United States. Feb. 12, 2009 a Colgan Air Q400 propjet, operating under Continental Connection colors, crashed outside of Buffalo. Fifty people died.
Deputy Administrator Michael Huerta takes over as acting FAA Administrator in the aftermath of Babbitt’s departure. What remains to be seen is who will appointed to permanently fill the position.
Labeling the US aviation system “the safest in the world,” LaHood acknowledged Babbitt’s contributions. Under the former airline pilot’s leadership “it became safer and stronger.”
The challenge now is keeping it that way.
Should Randy Babbitt have stayed on at FAA? What’s your opinion?
Tuesday, Dec. 6
In the wake of his arrest this past weekend on a drunk driving charge, Federal Aviation Administration’s Randy Babbitt’s fate is twisting in the wind.
The respected 65-year-old administrator was arrested and charged after allegedly driving on the wrong side of the road in suburban Washington, DC. No accident was involved.As this piece gets set to go live, Babbitt is on administrative leave. After being charged, he was released on his own recognizance and is scheduled to appear in court in early February. Babbitt’s boss, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, could face a tough choice. LaHood is a consistent campaigner for safe driving and reducing incidents of DUIs. But Babbitt is also one of the most effective FAA administrators in history, a former Eastern Airlines pilot and previous head of the Air Line Pilots Association.
Babbitt’s arrest dismayed airline industry observers. “I like Randy Babbitt, he’s always been very straightforward,” says FlyersRights.org founder Kate Hanni. “I think he should be sent to rehab and allowed to keep his job – unless there are extenuating circumstances.” Hanni contends, “I think he deserves a second chance.”
American Aviation Institute Chairman Darryl Jenkins is similarly supportive of Babbitt. “I’m pretty sure this was a single, isolated experience for him, but it’s still very distressing.”
As for what role DOT’s campaign to curb drunk driving will have on the FAA administrator’s fate Jenkins says, “Randy is one of the more qualified we’ve had there in a long time…Randy Babbitt was actually very, very good at his job.”
How do you tally the sum total of a person’s talents, weighing them against their alleged transgressions? That’s what the Obama Administration and Secretary LaHood are going to have to grapple with. Their decision could have a significant impact on the future of the Federal Aviation Administration. And that means how—and how safely—you fly.
What do you think? Should Randy Babbitt be allowed to keep his job?
Story by Jerry Chandler
(Image: FAA)
