Polly Trottenberg, the current Deputy Transportation Secretary, is expected to take over as acting administrator of the FAA in the next few days. She will replace current Acting Administrator Billy Nolen, who will leave the post on Friday, according to Reuters. It was reported earlier that FAA Chief of Staff Katie Thomson would get the job. Sources told Reuters that Trottenberg’s appointment wasn’t a sure thing either.
Trottenberg is a career bureaucrat with no apparent aviation experience. She was New York City’s Transportation Commissioner and a senior policy official for the Department of Transportation in the Obama administration. She also served as an aide to Sen. Charles Schumer. There’s still no word on nomination of a permanent replacement for former FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, who left more than a year ago. The Biden administration’s pick for the job, Phil Washington, withdrew after a rough nomination hearing in the Senate.
