The Senate confirmed former airline executive Stephen Dickson to run the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Wednesday, July 24, 2019. The Senate vote to confirm Mr. Dickson was 52-40.

N.O.I.S.E. has worked previously with Mr. Dickson in its work with the NextGen Advisory Committee (NAC).

Mr. Dickson previously served as the senior vice president-flight operations for Delta Air Lines Inc. While at Delta, Mr. Dickson served in several posts advising the government on modernizing the air-traffic system, which will be one of his top responsibilities at the FAA. Mr. Dickson also attended the Air Force Academy and was a fighter pilot before flying for Delta. He retired from the airline on October 1, 2018.

The FAA Administrator job has been vacant since Michael Huerta, who had been appointed by President Barack Obama, stepped down in early 2018 at the end of his five-year term. Since Administrator Huerta stepped down, Daniel Elwell has been serving as the FAA's Acting Administrator.

In addition to the confirmation of Mr. Dickson, both the House and Senate passed a special waiver for Mr. Elwell to keep his job as the Deputy Administrator at the Federal Aviation Administration. The waiver (S. 2249) allows for two former military officers to fill top FAA spots at the same time. The measure awaits the president's signature to allow Mr. Elwell and Senate-confirmed Steve Dickson to serve as deputy and administrator respectively.

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Emily Tranter