FAA Assigns Boulter To Permanent Safety Position

On Monday (Aug. 28) the FAA announced it was naming David Boulter, currently serving as acting head of aviation safety, to the permanent position of associate administrator for aviation safety. Boulter, a pilot, is a longtime FAA official and "is well qualified to carry on the important work of protecting the traveling public as we continue the FAA’s mission to make the world’s safest form of travel even safer," according to an agency statement.

The appointment comes at a time when the FAA is under scrutiny for a series of high-profile “close calls” involving near collisions in flight and on airport surfaces. In the statement announcing Boulter’s appointment, the agency wrote that the rash of close calls have “reminded us that we can never take our safety record for granted."

Prior to joining the FAA in 1997, the agency reports Boulter served in various capacities in Part 121 and Part 135 operations as a pilot, flight instructor, check airman and chief pilot of a regional airline. He holds an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate with multiple jet  type ratings. He is also a certified flight instructor with multi-engine and instrument instructor qualifications.

According to the FAA statement, “Boulter began his career in Flight Standards in 1997 as an Aviation Safety Inspector with the Scottsdale Flight Standards District Office. Throughout his FAA career, he held many roles including pilot, check airman, 14 CFR Part 119 management in multiple legacy flight programs, and Senior FAA Representative/Senior Foreign Affairs Specialist in Afghanistan. He served as the Assistant Manager and Director of Operations for the Flight Standards Flight Program, and the Flight Program Manager and Director of Operations for the Washington Flight Program based at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. He rejoined Flight Standards after serving in his most recent leadership role as the Agency’s Flight Program Executive and Vice President of Flight Program Operations for the FAA Air Traffic Organization.”