Well, these positions are presidential appointments.

I was contacted because of my career in the airline industry, not because of a particular political activity.

They were looking for someone who had some deep business experience.

And the focus really was on next gen and the upgrade of the air traffic control system. So they wanted somebody with a business business experience. And the focus really was on next gen and the upgrade of the air traffic

control system. So they wanted somebody with a business background that could bring some

business principles to that really important project.

You just heard Mike Whitaker, the nominee for FAA administrator, talking about his former job as the FAA deputy administrator.

Hello again and welcome to Aviation News Talk, where we talk in General Aviation, with relevant news and flying tips for pilots and student pilots to help keep you safe.

I'm Max Ruscott.

In a moment, you'll hear the entire interview in which Mike also talked about his activity as a private pilot, his thoughts on NextGen, and the future of general aviation. Mike talked about factors that led to the decline of GA after the 1970s and his optimism for further growth due to demand for more pilots, the Part 23 rewrite, and new technologies like electric aircraft.

He also talked about NextGen, ADSB, and his prop strike.

I had this conversation with Mike in 2019, and this is a replay of episode 115 of the Aviation News Talk podcast.

A few years earlier, when Mike was still the FAAW administrator, I spent the afternoon with him

and I had planned to take him for his first ride in a serious aircraft. And I'll tell you after the

interview why we didn't fly and what we did instead. Earlier this week in episode 290,

we talked with Robert Shapiro about what it takes for you as a fixed-wing pilot or as a helicopter

pilot to add on a rating to fly a gyroplane.

So if you didn't hear that episode, you may want to check it out at AviationNewsTalk.com slash 290.

And so you don't miss next week's episode.

In whatever app that you're using to listen to me now, take a moment right now and touch either the subscribe key or if you're using the Apple podcast app,

the follow key so that next week's episode is downloaded for free.

And this is a listener supported show, supported by people like, well, yeah, you.

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