Wed, Oct 25, 2006
David Balloff Leaving Agency For Job
With Embraer
For the second time this
year, a key employee in the Federal Aviation Administration is
leaving the agency for bluer skies with an organization tied to the
commercial airline industry.
Industry sources told ANN Tuesday David Balloff (right),
currently the head of Congressional Relations at the FAA, is
leaving to take a position at Brazilian planemaker Embraer. Balloff
is set to start in November as Vice President of External Affairs
with Embraer, where he'll be responsible for business development
in the US and Canada.
He'll be based in Washington, DC. According to sources, Balloff
will be replaced at the FAA by Megan Rosia, who currently works for
Northwest Airlines government affairs.
As Aero-News reported in
March, another FAA employee -- former assistant
administrator Sharon Pinkerton -- was named vice president of
government affairs for the Air Transport Association, the largest
airline lobbying group in the country.
Pinkerton's move from government work, to the private sector,
drew fire from many general aviation pilots... as a possible sign
of collusion between the FAA and the airlines, at a time when ATA
was pushing the FAA to slap user fees on general aviation
pilots.
That fight is destined to pick back up as a multi-year package
for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) funding and modernization
programs will go before Congress next year. The ATA supports a
reauthorization process, to shift from the traditional way the FAA
has been funded -- on a per-use basis, with taxes on fuel -- to one
based on user fees.
It's unlikely Balloff's move to Embraer will draw as much
attention as Pinkerton's shift to the ATA... but it's worth noting
the majority of Embraer's business comes from airlines. And then
there's Rosia's background with Northwest...
Stay tuned.
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