Babbitt Resigns After DWI

WASHINGTON, D.C. – FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt resigned following his arrest December 3, 2011 near his home in Fairfax City, Va., on charges of drunken driving. Babbitt, 65, said that he resigned because he didn’t want to allow anything to “cast a shadow” on the work done by his colleagues at the FAA. The arresting patrolman observed Babbitt driving on the wrong side of the road. Babbitt was the only person in the car, there was no accident, and he fully cooperated with the police officer.

Babbitt was sworn in as head of FAA in 2009, having previously served as chairman of the agency’s Management Advisory Council, which provides guidance on such topics as air traffic modernization and regulatory policy. Babbitt was a pilot with Eastern Airlines for 25 years, and was President of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). He was also a partner at Oliver Wyman, an international management consulting firm.

Michael P. Huerta is now Acting Administrator. He assumed this role on December 5, 2011.

Before joining the FAA, Huerta held senior positions at Affiliated Computer Services from 2002-2009, rising to the position of President of the Transportation Solutions Group; ACS is now a Xerox company specializing in business processes and information technology. Huerta was commissioner of New York City’s Department of Ports, International Trade and Commerce from 1986-89. He then served as the Executive Director of the Port of San Francisco from 1989-1993. From 1993-98, he held senior positions in the U.S. Transportation Department in Washington, D.C., serving under Secretary Federico Pena and Secretary Rodney E. Slater.

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