UA FAA chief will become aerospace lobbyist

Marion C Blakey, administrator of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), will head the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), the country's main aerospace lobbyist, as its new chief executive. Blakey replaces John W Douglass, 66, who is retiring. Her term ends next month.

A successor at the FAA has not yet been named, but administration officials have discussed with members of Congress the possibility of naming Barbara Barrett, a former deputy FAA administrator under President Ronald Reagan and the wife of Craig R Barrett, chairman of Intel.

In November, Blakely, becomes most prominent spokesperson for the aerospace industry, and will negotiate with the federal government she once represented, on behalf of the makers of commercial aircraft and defence contractors for the Pentagon. Founded in 1919 - a little over a decade after the first man-made flight - the Arlington-based AIA concentrates on civil aviation, space and national security. Its early members included aerospace pioneer Orville Wright.

The AIA represents the nation's largest manufacturers and suppliers of civilian, military and business aircraft; unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); space systems; aircraft engines, missiles and related components; aerospace services; and related IT service providers. Its more than 100 members include Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Textron and United Technologies.

Blakey is the latest of several top administration officials to depart as President Bush's term comes nearer to a close.

Earlier, deputy White House chief of staff Karl Rove announced that he would leave at the end of the month. At 59, she has had a long career in the transportation industry, both inside and outside government. She was sworn in as FAA administrator in September 2002.

Before that, Blakey chaired the National Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency that investigates civil aviation accidents and significant accidents on railroads, highways and pipelines.