The head of the Federal Aviation Administration resigned Tuesday after his arrest during the weekend on charges of drunken driving. Randy Babbitt was about halfway through a five-year term as head of the FAA, which is in charge of regulating the US aviation industry. Deputy FAA Administrator Michael Huerta will serve as acting administrator.
Industry officials and lawmakers said they expect Huerta to stay through next year since the White House probably will want to avoid a possible nomination fight before the presidential election next November. In recent months, Huerta has been leading the FAA's troubled NextGen effort to transition from an air traffic control system based on World War II-era radar technology to one based on satellite technology. Huerta was managing director of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, and held several senior Transportation Department posts during former President Bill Clinton's administration.
Babbitt, 65, was arrested Saturday night in the Washington suburb of Fairfax City, Virginia., by a patrolman who said the nation's top aviation official was driving on the wrong side of the road. Babbitt said in a statement that he had submitted his resignation to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and it had been accepted.