J. Randolph "Randy" Babbitt
Randy Babbitt
Born	1946
Occupation	Public Servant, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator

J. Randolph "Randy" Babbitt (born 1946) is an American businessman and government administrator. In 2009 he became the current Administrator of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

[edit] Career

Babbitt was raised in Florida. He attended the University of Georgia and the University of Miami before becoming an airline pilot, flying for Eastern Air Lines for 25 years.

Babbitt's father ("Slim" Babbitt) was also an airline pilot; he was one of the founding fathers^[1] of the Air Line Pilots Association, which has become the largest airline pilot union in the United States and Canada. Randy Babbitt served multiple roles within ALPA, including serving as Executive Administrator 1987-1990. In 1990 Babbitt was elected President of ALPA and served for eight years in that position.

After leaving ALPA Babbitt formed an airline management and financial consulting firm in Reston, Virginia, Eclat Consulting. In September 2007 the personnel of this company were merged into the Aircraft Management division of Oliver Wyman.^[2]

[edit] With FAA

During the Clinton Administration, President Bill Clinton appointed Babbitt to the FAA Management Advisory Council. While in that capacity Babbitt sat on an independent review panel advising the government on aviation safety policy.^[3]

President Barack Obama formally nominated Babbitt to become the FAA Administrator on 27 March 2009.^[4]. Babbitt's nomination was confirmed by the US Senate on 21 May 2009; he was sworn in on June 1st.^[5] Babbitt succeeded Robert Sturgell and Lynne Osmus, who had both served as Acting FAA Administrator since Marion Blakey's term expired in 2007. Babbitt's FAA term is five years.^[6]

During his confirmation hearing Babbitt stated:

"My number one priority is to focus on safety. This is a business where one mistake is one too many."

[edit] References