While that office may be ready to go to work, the FAA itself is not fully on the job. That’s because it’s without an administrator. Michael Whitaker, who had led the administration since Oct., 2023, stepped down earlier this month,

Mike Whitaker, the previous FAA administrator, stepped down on Inauguration Day after just over a year on the job. He’d repeatedly clashed with Elon Musk — now in charge of a group tasked with slashing the government’s headcount by President Donald Trump — over safety issues at his space company,

The Federal Aviation Administration’s leader stepped down on Jan. 20, months after Elon Musk demanded that he quit. The move by Michael Whitaker means the FAA has no Senate-confirmed leader for one of the biggest crises in its history because he quit before Donald Trump took office.

During his Thursday press conference, Trump blamed air traffic controllers, the helicopter pilots and Democratic policies at federal agencies as

President Trump appointed Christopher Rocheleau, a 22-year FAA veteran, as acting administrator of the agency.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had appointed a former senior aviation official as the acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration, a day after the deadliest U.S. air disaster in more than 20 years.