Duncan Urges Senate to Confirm FAA Administrator

March 3, 2008

Washington, DC -- Congressman John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN) joined his colleagues today in expressing disappointment that the Senate has failed to confirm Robert Sturgell as the head of the Federal Aviation Administration.  Sturgell is currently the Acting Administrator.

Among the Senate’s concerns were air-traffic controller staffing, runway safety, and the airspace redesign around New York and Philadelphia, however, addressing these issues will be more difficult without a full-time FAA Administrator.

With this delay, it is likely that Sturgell will continue in the acting position for the remainder of the year. 

“Their reasons to block the nomination are contradictory to the reasons to expedite qualified leadership, and the continued absence of a permanent agency head only slows down the process for getting their concerns addressed,” said Duncan.

“Stable leadership at the FAA is critical to managing the demands of our Nation’s aviation system.  This delay hurts current programs and denies innovation to enable the system to run more safely and effectively.”

Sturgell was nominated to be the Administrator of the FAA last year after Marion Blakey stepped down.  Previously, he held the Deputy Administrator position under Blakey.