Biden says he will nominate former FAA deputy to lead agency

President Biden announced on Thursday that he planned to nominate Michael G. Whitaker, who served as the No. 2 official at the FAA during the Obama administration, to become the agency’s next permanent leader. Whitaker currently serves as the COO for Supernal, a Hyundai Motor company that is developing air taxis. He was the FAA’s deputy administrator from 2013 to 2016 and has also been an executive at United Airlines. The FAA has been without permanent leadership since Stephen Dickson, a former Delta executive and an appointee of President Donald J. Trump, stepped down last year. Biden’s first nominee for the post, Phillip A. Washington, the CE of Denver International Airport, withdrew from consideration in March after running into resistance in the Senate. The failure of Mr. Washington’s nomination has prolonged the leadership void atop the agency. The F.A.A. official who served as acting administrator after Mr. Dickson’s departure, Billy Nolen, left the agency in June. Polly Trottenberg, the deputy transportation secretary, has been serving as the FAA’s acting administrator, but she will have to turn over the reins to another temporary leader in late October because of a federal law that limits how long she can run the agency on an acting basis.<br/>