In AIN’s upcoming June issue, we raise the question of whether new FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt is cracking down extra hard on the aviation industry. The question came up because the FAA seems to have publicized a growing number of enforcement cases against airlines and general aviation operators since Babbitt came onboard last June. Each of the cases includes substantial civil penalties, which might end up negotiated to smaller amounts.
While the overall volume of enforcement doesn’t seem to have grown, it does seem apparent that Babbitt is trying to get the industry’s attention.
Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.
