President Trump today officially appointed former NBAA COO Chris Rocheleau as the acting head of the FAA. The announcement comes less than 24 hours after a PSA-operated American Airlines CRJ700 regional airliner collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
For the past 10 days, the administration and FAA had declined to tell press outlets who was running the aviation agency on a daily basis. According to multiple sources, Rocheleau was previously tapped as FAA deputy administrator on or around January 20, although even that position was not formally announced by either the FAA or White House.
Rocheleau had spent almost all of the prior 17 years with the FAA in various roles, rising to the position of deputy associate administrator for aviation safety before joining NBAA in 2022. He also served as FAA deputy assistant administrator for policy, international affairs, and environment and chief of staff, among others.
Rocheleau joined the FAA in 1996 but left for a nearly four-year stint in 2002 to serve as a senior policy advisor during the early days of the then-nascent Transportation Security Administration. He also spent 10 years in the U.S. Air Force.