Days After Trump Aviation Safety Tweet, FAA Chief to Depart
- Agency head Michael Huerta’s term expires at midnight Saturday
- Trump’s taking credit for safe skies put FAA in spotlight
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The U.S. agency overseeing aviation safety loses its chief at midnight Saturday with no replacement in sight -- days after President Donald Trump took credit in a tweet for the airlines’ safest year on record.
Federal Aviation Administration head Michael Huerta, who rose unexpectedly to lead the agency in 2011 after the sudden departure of his predecessor, will step down at the end of his term. With no nominee named by the White House to replace Huerta, the FAA’s current deputy administrator, Daniel Elwell, will become the agency’s acting head, the Department of Transportation said in an emailed statement.