Michael Huerta

Michael Huerta
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration
Incumbent
Assumed office December 6, 2011 Acting: December 6, 2011 – January 7, 2013
Personal details
Born	(1956-11-18) 18 November 1956 Riverside, California, U.S.
Alma mater	University of California, Riverside Princeton University

Michael Peter Huerta (born November 18, 1956) is the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.^[1] He was sworn in to office on January 7, 2013, for a five-year term and is responsible for the safety and efficiency of the largest aerospace system in the world. He oversees a $15.9 billion dollar budget and more than 47,000 employees.

Career

He received his bachelor's degree in political science from the University of California, Riverside and his master's in international relations from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

Huerta was commissioner of New York City's Department of Ports, International Trade and Commerce from 1986 to 1989. In January 1989, he left to serve as the executive director of the Port of San Francisco until 1993. From 1993 to 1998 he held senior positions at the United States Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C., serving under Secretaries Federico Peña and Rodney E. Slater during the Administration of President Bill Clinton.

Huerta worked as a Managing Director with the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games,^[2] preparing Salt Lake City's transportation outlets for the Olympics. Huerta was involved in the planning and construction of a variety of Olympic transportation facilities, as well as the development of a highly successful travel demand management system that made sure that the transportation system operated safely and efficiently. Huerta organized the logistics for the Olympic flame for its journey from Athens, Greece to Salt Lake City, Utah.

From 2002 to 2009, Huerta was Group President of the Transportation Solutions Group at Affiliated Computer Services, a company later acquired by Xerox, specializing in business processes and information technology.^[3]

Federal Aviation Administration

President Obama nominated Huerta as Deputy Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). On January 26, 2010, Huerta appeared before Congress^[4] for his confirmation hearing,^[5] but his Congressional confirmation was held up by Texas Senator John Cornyn over fighter drones patrolling the Mexico–United States border near Corpus Christi.^[6] Huerta waited over five months for his congressional confirmation; on June 23, 2010, he became Deputy Administrator of the FAA.

Huerta became Acting Administrator of the FAA upon the resignation of Randy Babbitt on December 6, 2011.^[7] As Acting Administrator, Huerta helped oversee the operation of the National Airspace System and a $16 billion budget.

On March 27, 2012, President Barack Obama formally nominated him to serve as the next permanent Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration for a term of five years; the nomination was subsequently confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 1, 2013.^[8][9]

During his tenure, Huerta has worked to redefine the FAA's regulatory relationship with the aviation industry to achieve greater levels of safety through increased collaboration and widespread sharing of data. He also has led the agency's efforts to modernize the nation's air traffic control system through the NextGen program while preparing the way for the safe integration of commercial space operations and small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

Since the beginning of Huerta's term, the FAA has completed key building blocks of NextGen, including the installation of modern information systems to serve as the backbone for future technological improvements. The FAA also completed the installation of a comprehensive network of ground-based radio stations that enable the use of Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) instead of radar to better manage air traffic. In addition, the agency has made significant progress in harnessing GPS technology to modernize thousands of air traffic routes in congested airspace. The FAA expects NextGen to deliver an estimated $134 billion in direct airline, industry and passenger benefits by 2030. NextGen is already reducing the environmental footprint of aviation through significant reductions in fuel consumption as aircraft use these more efficient routes.

Under Huerta's leadership, the FAA eliminated a decades-old ban on the use of Personal Electronic Devices aboard airplanes, making it possible for passengers to use many devices from gate to gate.

Most recently, Huerta led the agency's efforts to integrate small UAS into the busiest and most complex airspace in the world. In late 2015, the FAA developed and put into a place a registration system that enables the agency to keep track of this growing segment of aviation while ensuring that new operators are provided with important safety information. The agency collaborated with a growing number of commercial operators and hobbyists to develop and issue a set of sensible regulations that will ensure safety and create an environment that fosters innovation, exhibited most recently in the rule for small unmanned aircraft.

Under Huerta's leadership, the FAA continues to build on the unparalleled safety record of the U.S. aviation industry by harnessing the power of safety data gathered with each commercial flight. In 2015, the FAA built upon its already successful collaboration with the airline industry to adopt a new Compliance Philosophy that relies on risk-based decision making to identify and correct problems in the National Airspace System before they result in an accident or incident. This system relies on an open and transparent exchange of information between the FAA and the industry that is seen as the next evolution in improving safety.

Huerta is an experienced transportation official who held a number of key positions before coming to the FAA. He was a Managing Director of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games focusing on the planning and construction of a variety of Olympic transportation facilities, as well as the development of a highly successful travel demand management system that ensured the transportation system operated safely and efficiently.

In June 2014, Huerta was named one of 8 Most Influential People in Drones.^[10]

References