Posted on 03/03/2023 1:53:16 PM PST by grundle
At yesterday's Senate Commerce Committee hearing, Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) questioned Phillip Washington, nominee to be Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
At least Pete Buttigieg can drive. I think.
Allegations of Corruption Haunt Phillip A. Washington
Biden’s Pick for FAA Boss Faces Uphill Road to Confirmation
Phillip A. Washington, Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Federal Aviation Administration, is facing an uncertain and uphill path to confirmation amid concerns about his dearth of aviation experience and documented entanglement in an ongoing corruption investigation.
Despite being nominated by Biden in July 2022, Washington—the chief executive of Denver International Airport (DEN)—has yet to receive a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing.
As the sitting Congress ends in early January 2023, Biden must renominate Washington for the FAA post—a course of action White House spokeswoman Olivia Dalton states Joe may not embrace.
Uncertainty about Washington’s nomination has been exacerbated by the numerous and serious challenges with which the FAA is presently faced.
Retrospectively the agency is contending with multitudinous complaints set forth by air travelers in the wake of unprecedented flight delays and cancellations attributable to airlines’ collective mismanagement of the COVID crisis. What’s more, the matter of the FAA’s oversight of Boeing’s 737 MAX program and the rubber-stamping of the aircraft’s type certification have badly damaged the agency’s reputation and regulatory credibility.
Future challenges with which the FAA is obligated to concern itself include shoring up staffing of America’s air traffic control system, and codifying legislative infrastructure by which to regulate the emergent Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) sector.
The FAA has been without long-term leadership since March 2022, when Stephen Dickson, a former Delta Air Lines pilot and executive appointed by President Donald J. Trump, resigned prior to the end of his five-year term as the agency’s administrator. The FAA’s top safety official, Billy Nolen, a former American Airlines pilot, has served as interim administrator since Mr. Dickson’s abdication.
In sharp contrast to Messrs. Dickson and Nolen, Washington, 64, has no practical aviation experience of which to speak. He is neither a pilot, an aerospace engineer, nor an airframe and powerplant mechanic. Washington did, however, head Biden’s transition team for transportation after the 2020 election.
What Phillip A. Washington possesses in abundance, however, is a potential connection to public corruption, pay-to-play, fraud, and waste and abuse of public funds. Federal Investigators proved in Federal Court that under his leadership as the Denver Regional Transportation District’s (RTD) general manager, Washington’s underlings exchanged contracts for cash and lobbied RTD to renew Access-a-Ride contracts in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
On 19 February 2021, The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, after a two-year investigation, served criminal warrants to LA Metro, the LA Metro Office of Inspector General, and a non-profit known as Peace Over Violence. Subject warrants addressed allegations of fraud, waste and abuse, public corruption, and pay to play between Peace Over Violence CEO Patti Giggans, LA Metro CEO Phillip Washington, Washington’s Chief of Staff Nadine Lee, former New Orleans RTA CEO Alex Wiggins, and LA Metro Executive Officer Aston Greene III.
On 03 February 2021, sixteen-days prior to the serving of the aforementioned criminal warrants, Washington—without securing further employment—stepped down from his post as CEO of LA Metro.
On 30 May 2021, Washington left LA Metro just as he’d left Denver RTD—under criminal investigation.
That the FAA is in need of a competent tillerman is obvious. That Phillip A. Washington is the man for the job is the question at hand.
http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=d048bece-25ed-4b40-a819-5eeded16d7c5
War dog
LOL, with this current twisted demon rat regime it is always possible!
Now all our lives will be in the AA appointee who got where he is using the color of his skin. This is deadly serious and people WILL die.
I have been in the aircraft engineering and manufacturing industry for many moons. I know dozens and dozens of people who can do this job. This guy is dangerous and not suitable.
But he is melanated and “takes it very seriously.”
Damned right. I knew every question. I have been engineering and overseeing manufacturing of FAR certified aircraft for near 20 years. I would do a better job than this idiot. I bet this idiot doesn’t even know what FAR means. God help us.
Even more frightening are reading the youtube comments defending this unqualified man. Holy hell we are doomed.
The FAA needs someone to fill the chair. They don’t care.
Buttigieg, Granholm. Do they have any experience in either of their agenices operations?
With the DEI taking over the air industry, if anyone is still flying in the next few years, they’re taking their lives in their hands.
This guy is ridiculous!!
Famous last words:
“All pilots are equal.”
I’ve had my pilot license for five years, my multi-engine for two, and sometime this year I expect to apply for my commercial license. And as new as I am I knew the answers to those questions.
Including part 91.
Ever been in an ATC?...............He doesn’t ask about their jobs....................
AVIATION PING!...................
Geez. I could answer half of them and have never had a lesson or flown a plane.
“Thank you, Senator, for your question that makes me look like a complete idiot. I’d rather not speculate on an answer.”
Pronouns. Don’t forget he has good pronouns. It’s the first qual to check these days.
Budd: “Can you define ‘airplane’?”
Washington: “I’m not a biologist.”
Yes,maybe this guy knows zero about avaition, but he is a black man.
Everything federal gub mint has turned to horse shit.
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