‘Clear the runway’: Schumer calls for Biden’s FAA nominee to be confirmed
Jack Birle
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is calling for President Joe Biden‘s nominee for head of the Federal Aviation Administration to be confirmed following a major outage in the agency’s computer systems that grounded flights nationwide last week.
Schumer renewed his commitment to confirm Biden’s FAA nominee, stressing the need for leadership at a press conference Sunday.
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“It’s time to clear the runway for President Biden’s choice for FAA administrator, Phil Washington,” Schumer said. “With recent events, including airline troubles and last week’s tech problem, this agency needs a leader confirmed by the Senate immediately.”
Washington was nominated by Biden in July 2022 to replace acting Administrator Billy Nolen, who took over in April 2022 after Stephen Dickson stepped down prior to the end of his five-year term.
Washington is currently the CEO of Denver International Airport and previously served as the CEO of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Denver Regional Transportation District.
Washington’s nomination has not been unanimously agreed upon, with Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) calling for a new nominee due to Washington’s lack of “safety or aviation experience.”
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The outage to the FAA’s Notice to Air Missions system last week was caused by a damaged database file, according to the agency. The NOTAM outage caused more than 6,000 delays and more than 1,000 cancellations, the latest in a string of headaches travelers have faced in the past month.