Word: faa
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Garvey, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, was presenting the agency's new report on airline delays in her typical, graceful style. And then it struck me - she's just too nice a person for this job. What the FAA - and airline travelers - need is a leader who is able to inspire, well, fear...
...Truth be told, the problem isn't exactly Garvey. Although she is the first FAA chief in history to have a five-year, tenure-like appointment, technically she can be removed at any time. So she is careful not to put a word out of place in the hypersensitve aviation community. With an administration that has so far granted every wish the airline industry has asked of it, Garvey knows her head might be the next request...
...more important, the job has to change. No more underpaid punching bag. Cash some of Dick Cheney's stock options and get someone of Summitt's stature, change the title from administrator to president of the FAA, and simultaneously put through the paperwork that allows her to overrule the "real" President on any aviation matter. And make the FAA president's job comparable to a Supreme Court Justice. Yes, a life term. (Don't worry, there isn't actually anyone who would stay that long). Then tell Summitt she can go back to hoops as soon as Newark Airport goes...
That might not be enough for the airlines, which, faced with any more poorly designed reviews from Washington, will be less cooperative with future safety efforts. For some, the Alaska-inspired audits may have poisoned the safety well. "Honestly, I don't trust them anymore," says a former FAA official. "The FAA has put the industry back into a defensive crouch...
...FAA has missed at least two informal deadlines for releasing the results because it is busy responding to airline complaints. The agency says what it has learned from the experience will change the way it will conduct future audits...