BOEING OVERSIGHT WOULD BE FIRST CHALLENGE FOR NEW FAA NOMINEE
President Donald Trump has tapped a former Delta Air Lines executive to lead the Federal Aviation Administration as the regulator deals with questions about its approval of a Boeing airliner involved in two deadly crashes within five months.
The White House said Tuesday that Trump will nominate Stephen Dickson to head the FAA. The agency has been led by an acting administrator since January 2018.
Separately, the Transportation Department confirmed that its watchdog agency will examine how the FAA certified the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, the now-grounded plane involved in two fatal accidents within five months.
The FAA had stood by the safety of the plane up until last Wednesday, despite other countries grounding it.
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao formally requested the audit in a letter sent to Inspector General Calvin Scovel III on Tuesday.
Chao, whose agency oversees the FAA, said the audit will improve the department’s decision-making. Her letter confirmed that she had previously requested an audit. It did not mention reports that the inspector general and federal prosecutors are looking into the development and regulatory approval of the jet.
The letter requests “an audit to compile an objective and detailed factual history of the activities that resulted in the certification of the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.” It also says the audit will help the FAA “in ensuring that its safety procedures are implemented effectively.”
Boeing said in a statement Tuesday that it will fully cooperate with the audit.
Questions about the FAA’s handling of the issue extend beyond U.S. borders and will pose an immediate challenge for Dickson, if he is confirmed to lead the agency.
Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau said this week that even if FAA certifies Boeing’s fix for the software on the 737 Max jet, “we will do our own certification.”
Dickson was Delta’s senior vice president of flight operations until retiring on Oct. 1 after 27 years with the airline, including time flying the 737 and other Boeing jets. Before that, he was an Air Force pilot. He emerged in recent weeks as the likely choice to lead FAA.
For the past 14 months, the agency has been under an acting administrator, Daniel Elwell, a former Air Force and American Airlines pilot.
A Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed off the coast of Indonesia last October, and an Ethiopian Airlines Max 8 crashed this month near Addis Ababa.
Investigators suspect that incorrect sensor readings feeding into a new automated flightcontrol system may have played a role in the Indonesian crash, and the Ethiopian plane had a similar, erratic flight path.
There are about 370 Max jets of various models at airlines around the world. American, Southwest and United have said the grounding of their Max jets have led to some canceled flights.
The plane is an important part of Chicago-based Boeing’s future. The company has taken more than 5,000 orders and delivered more than 250 Max jets last year. Boeing still makes an older version of the popular 737, but it expected the Max to account for 90 percent of all 737 deliveries this year.