Trump appoints Rocheleau acting FAA administrator

President Donald Trump appointed aviation veteran Chris Rocheleau acting FAA administrator last week, the day after a U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter collided mid-air with American Airlines Flight 5342 in Virginia, killing sixty-seven people. [caption id="attachment_57148632" align="alignright" width="250"] Acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau[/caption] Rocheleau had been chief operating officer for the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), where he oversaw aircraft and flight department operations, as well as administrative, financial and human resources functions, since June 2022, according to his bio on the FAA website. Before his stint at the NBAA, Rocheleau held multiple positions at the FAA for more than twenty years, including: Deputy associate administrator for aviation safety; Chief of staff; Deputy associate administrator for policy, international affairs and environment; Executive director for international affairs; and Director of national security programs, emergency operations and investigations. Before working at the NBAA and FAA, Rocheleau was a senior policy adviser at the TSA and an officer and special agent with the U.S. Air Force, retiring from the USAF Reserve in 2010 as a lieutenant colonel. Rocheleau is the fifth person to be appointed FAA administrator in the past six years. Michael Huerta was the last administrator to serve a full five-year term from 2013 to 2018. Since then, acting and confirmed FAA administrators were: Stephen Dickson. nominated by Trump in March 2019, confirmed by the Senate and resigned in March 2022; Billy Nolen, appointed acting administrator in April 2022 and remained until June 2023; Polly Trottenberg, acting administrator for five months in 2023; and Michael Whitaker, nominated by President Joe Biden in September 2023, confirmed by the Senate and resigned effective Jan. 20, Trump’s inauguration day. USDOT secretary takes office Sean Duffy was sworn in as the 20th secretary of the USDOT on Jan. 28. [caption id="attachment_57148631" align="aligncenter" width="621"] U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy signs a memorandum to lower automobile fuel prices and eliminate the electric vehicle mandate. (Courtesy/USDOT)[/caption] Judith Kaleta served as acting secretary from Jan. 20 to 28, succeeding Democrat Pete Buttigieg, who served as secretary for four years during Biden’s term. Duffy, a Republican, was U.S. representative from Wisconsin’s 7th District for ten years, during which time he served on the House Financial Services Committee and co-chaired the Great Lakes Task Force. Prior to serving in Congress, Duffy was the district attorney of Ashland County, Wis., for ten years. He also co-hosted the Fox Business show “The Bottom Line with Dagen and Duffy” and got his start in television on the MTV reality show “The Real World.” Aviation safety Trump issued a memorandum Jan. 30 for the Duffy and Rocheleau appointments, calling for an “immediate assessment of aviation safety .” In the memo, Trump blamed the Jan. 29 fatal collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) on his Democratic predecessors for having “rejected merit-based hiring” at the FAA to implement “dangerous ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ tactics.” In a memo issued Jan. 21, Trump ordered the USDOT and FAA to review all hiring decisions and changes to safety protocols made in the past four years. The agencies are then directed to take any necessary corrective action. Register now for Cargo Facts' essential regional events for industry stakeholders: Cargo Facts LATAM 2025 on Feb. 10-11 at the Pullman Sao Paulo Guarulhos Airport in Brazil; Cargo Facts Asia 2025 on March 24-26 at the W Shanghai in China; and Cargo Facts EMEA 2025 on May 6-8 at the Shangri-La Bosphorus in Turkey.

Trump appoints Rocheleau acting FAA administrator

President calls for Rocheleau, Duffy to conduct ‘immediate assessment of aviation safety’

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