Marion Blakey

Marion C. Blakey
Marion C. Blakey
Born	1948 Gadsden, Alabama
Occupation	President & Chief Executive Officer (Aerospace Industries Association) Former Public Servant
Spouse	Married
Children	One daughter, Mona

Marion Clifton Blakey (born March 26, 1948) is president and chief executive officer of the Aerospace Industries Association. AIA represents the nation’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of civil, military, and business aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial systems, space systems, aircraft engines, missiles, materiel and related components, equipment services and information technology. Blakey became the eighth fulltime chief executive of the association in 2007. Before this, she served a five year term as the 15th Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. Blakey was the second woman to hold the position, serving as a successor to Jane Garvey, the first woman to hold the Administrator title. She is the second Administrator who was not a licensed pilot.

Background

Blakey was born in Gadsden, Alabama in 1948, the daughter of an insurance lawyer and an English teacher. She had one sibling, Leslie.^[1] Blakey received her bachelor's degree with honors in international studies from Mary Washington College (1970) of the University of Virginia. She also attended Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (1973) for graduate work in Middle East Affairs,^[2] and the University of Florence in Florence, Italy (1969).

She is married to William Ryan Dooley, and they have one daughter, Mona, born in 1987 who now attends the University of Wisconsin.^[1]

Non-governmental service

From 1993 to 2001, Blakey was the principal of Blakey & Associates, now Blakey & Agnew, a Washington, D.C. public affairs consulting firm with a particular focus on transportation issues and traffic safety.^[2]

Prior US government service

Blakey has held four previous Presidential appointments, two of which required Senate confirmation. From 1992 to 1993, Blakey served as administrator of the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). As the nation's leading highway safety official, she was charged with reducing deaths, injuries, and economic losses resulting from motor vehicle crashes. Prior to her service at NHTSA, she held key positions at the United States Department of Commerce, the United States Department of Education, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the White House, and the United States Department of Transportation.^[2] For instance, in 1989 Blakey was appointed as a member of the Commission on Presidential Scholars. Prior to that, she was Deputy Assistant to the President for Public Affairs and Communications Planning at the White House. Prior to this Blakey was director of public affairs and special assistant to the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education. From 1982 to 1984, she was director of public affairs at the National Endowment for the Humanities. Previously Blakey served as director of that agency's youth programs and in its Office of Planning and Policy Assessment.

NTSB Chairman

NTSB Chairman Marion Blakey (third from right) during the investigation of the tail fin and rudder from American Airlines flight 587.

During her tenure as National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman from September 26, 2001, to September 13, 2002, Blakey managed a number of accident investigations including the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in November 2001.^[2] Blakey worked to improve the Board's accident reporting process and increased industry and regulatory responsiveness to NTSB safety recommendations. Additionally, Blakey strengthened the Board's advocacy and outreach programs to promote safer travel throughout all modes of transportation. She also furthered development of the NTSB Academy as an international resource to enhance aviation safety and accident investigations.^[2]

FAA Administrator

Blakey was sworn in September 13, 2002, as the 15th Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. Her commission as FAA Administrator ended on September 13, 2007. In October 2007, the White House indicated they would nominate the acting administrator, Robert A. Sturgell, as her replacement. He had been deputy FAA administrator since 2003.^[3]

In 2007, Blakey described the current National Airspace System saying, "We are at a breaking point,"^[4] and throughout her tenure she pushed for the Next Generation Air Transportation System, said to improve future air traffic capacity. It was to be funded by a controversial new FAA funding structure based on user fees, but in 2007 Congress instead opted to fund the program by increasing the tax on general-aviation jet fuel.^[5]

The FAA declared an impasse over contract negotiations and imposed work rules including partial pay caps for veteran controllers and an alternative, lower pay scale for new hires on the air traffic controller workforce, represented by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA). The five-year labor contract in dispute was imposed on Labor Day in 2006 after Congress failed to intervene. The FAA thus imposed a unilateral reduction in pay scale of approximately 30 percent on active air traffic controllers only—all other FAA employees, including air traffic staff (those air traffic employees not directly involved in the control of air traffic) and supervisors/management retained their pay scales. The following year the Federal Labor Relations Authority ruled against NATCA's 2006 grievance.^[6] In 2006, Blakey said the agency's final proposal would result in current controllers earning an average of $187,000 a year in pay and benefits after five-years, up from the current $166,000 average.^[7] NATCA disputed those figures, saying they included overtime needed because of staffing shortages.

In May 2006, she did not anticipate increased retirements saying, "I was very surprised that the union said that there would be retirements triggered under the current proposal."^[7] However, 828 controllers retired, exceeding the FAA's initial and revised forecasts.^[8] The FAA noted that the agency hired over 1,400 new air traffic controller trainees and employed 14,874 nationwide exceeding 2007's target. Trainees normally take three to five years to complete their training.^[9]

During Congressional testimony February 11, 2009, NATCA President Pat Forrey testified that 3,356 controllers left the active work force in the two years after the work rules were imposed by Blakey, and "Since the implementation of the imposed work rules, the FAA lost more than 46,000 years of air traffic control experience through retirements alone. Nearly one third (27 percent) of air traffic controllers in the FAA have less than five years experience, and 40 air traffic control facilities have more than half of its workforce composed of individuals with less than five years experience." [1]

She became president and Chief Executive Officer of the industry trade association, Aerospace Industries Association, on Nov. 12, 2007.^[10][11]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Miller, Leslie. “FAA Chief Seeks to Move Industry Out of ‘Dire Straits’” Associated Press. September 14, 2002. Accessed January 31, 2007. (Dead link)
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Federal Aviation Administration. Marion Blakey Biography. Accessed January 14, 2007.
3. ^ CNN. Bush to nominate acting FAA chief to be administrator. October 23, 2007.
4. ^ Tracy Samantha Schmidt, "An Answer to Flight Delays?"
5. ^ Ben Bain, "NextGen funding battle heats up"
6. ^ Stephen Losey, "Air controllers press Congress to overturn FAA contract"
7. ^ ^{a b} Danial Pulliam, "FAA defends final labor contract offer". May 4, 2006.
8. ^ Todd Plitt. "Air traffic controller retirements surge"
9. ^ David McGlinchey, "FAA plans air traffic controller hiring surge"
10. ^ The New York Times. MATTHEW L. WALD. F.A.A. Chief to Lead Industry Group. August 22, 2007.
11. ^ The Washington Post. Jeffrey H. Birnbaum. FAA Chief To Become Aerospace Lobbyist. August 22, 2007.

External links

• Aerospace Industries Association (AIA)
• Bio of Marion C. Blakey
• Business week biography
• Blakey & Agnew
• NATCA

Government offices
Preceded by Jane Garvey	Federal Aviation Administrator 2002 – 2007	Succeeded by Robert A. Sturgell Acting Administrator

Persondata
Name	Blakey, Marion C.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 26, 1948
Place of birth	Gadsden, Alabama
Date of death
Place of death