...And Here, Darn it, Are The Heartbreakers

It is both the most "fun," and most difficult task, facing the ANN staff at the end of every year -- determining who, or what, did the most to promote the cause of aviation in the past 365 days... while also chastising those people or entities that did all they could to undermine the many successes the aerospace community has managed to accomplish.

Alas, 2007 saw more than its fair share of downers, aviation-wise. Sure, "stuff" happens... but a few folks, issues, or entities seemed to go out of their way to create problems for the world of aviation.

So... it is ANN's annual obligation to recognize a solid dozen of our Aero-Heartbreakers for 2007... in something of an informal order, starting from 12th to the 1st. Let us know what you think of our selections... whom YOU would have liked be included, or omitted, from such a list. In the meantime, we hope those who had something to do with this year's selections think a little more positively about the welfare of this industry, so that future lists become harder and harder to catalog. Be it ignorance, arrogance or just plain incompetence, these were the folks or topics that made our lot a whole lot more difficult and immeasurably injured the aviation world in the past year.

Shame on those issues, folks or topics that made our lot so much tougher in 2007...

From the Heartbreaker's List #3: Former FAA Boss Marion Blakey  

Let's face it... Marion Blakey broke our hearts in 2007. The Administrator of the FAA not only seemed to forget the importance of general and business aviation, she suddenly seemed to redefine the role of the FAA to stand as the Federal Airline Administration.

The decisions and rhetoric coming out of the FAA HQ building last year sounded as if it was written for, or by, the airline lobby and a number of pundits rudely but justifiably wondered out loud if, in fact, that was just what was happening. Rather than pushing the need for Next-Gen redesign with equal access/need for all, Blakey bought into the ridiculous notion that GA wasn't paying its "fair share."

If anyone should have had all the facts necessary to know better, it was she.

Worse; if there was a lower moment for an FAA Administrator, we'd have to go WAY back to the Hoover grounding to equal the breach of faith this Administrator foisted upon the GA world and other parts of aviation and aerospace. After starting out so strongly in a number of areas and after doing such positive work in a number of venues, Blakey's last year was most decidedly not her finest and the resultant effect is one where lasting damage to the image of GA and business aviation, in particular, was done needlessly, errantly and foolishly.

The part that puzzles us most is this... this is one of the sharpest people to ever fill the Adminstrator's chair. Her positions made no sense, were not supported by the facts and burdened her legacy with a rep that is anything but positive. Unless we hear that she takes over as CEO of a major airline in the next few years (something that would NOT have been countenanced had she done so right upon leaving office), we haven't a clue as to why this Administrator was turned so aggressively to "the dark side."

FMI: You Tell Us... Did Marion Blakey Let Us ALL Down???