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Randy Babbitt, Aviation Partner of Oliver Wyman, Tapped To Be Head of Federal Aviation Administration

Dépèche transmise le 27 mars 2009 par Business Wire

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--President Barack Obama today announced his intent to nominate J. Randolph “Randy” Babbitt, a partner in the aviation practice of management consulting firm Oliver Wyman, to be Administrator of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA regulates and oversees all aspects of civil aviation, including air traffic control, safety, and noise, and the administrator is the chief executive of this organization of roughly 46,000 full-time-equivalent employees.

Internationally recognized as a leader in the field of aviation and labor relations, Babbitt has roughly 40 years of experience in the field. He holds a number of FAA ratings including single and multi-engine land aircraft, as well as Air Transport Pilot.

Babbitt began his aviation career as a pilot for Eastern Airlines and flew for more than 25 years. As CEO of the Airline Pilots Association, Babbitt helped to direct and achieve important improvements in aviation safety and to influence policy in other critical areas of the industry and its operation. Babbitt left the Airline Pilots Association to found Eclat Consulting in Reston, Virginia, which provided economic support for regulatory, legislative, and business issues in aviation. The partners and staff of Eclat joined Oliver Wyman’s global Aviation, Aerospace & Defense practice in September, 2007.

Since joining Oliver Wyman, Babbitt’s client work has focused mainly on advising airlines and labor unions throughout complex restructuring initiatives and negotiations.

“Randy’s understanding of the interaction among the regulatory, safety, labor, and financial aspects of the aviation sector is unrivaled,” said Roger Lehman, head of Oliver Wyman’s aviation practice. “It’s good to see his expertise tapped for such a high level of public service.”

Peter Walsh, who heads all transportation and manufacturing practices at Oliver Wyman, added, “While we are disappointed to be losing one of our key partners, it’s clear that Randy is the right person for the job at the right time. Randy and this administration will advance aviation industry oversight and the development objectives of the FAA.”

Last year, Babbitt served on a blue-ribbon, independent review team tasked with evaluating and crafting recommendations to improve the FAA's implementation of the aviation safety system and its culture of safety. The panel provided detailed recommendations to the FAA across the areas of Airworthiness Directives, Voluntary Disclosure Programs, the culture of the FAA, safety management systems, and information technology and the role of FAA inspectors.

About Oliver Wyman

With more than 2,900 professionals in over 40 cities around the globe, Oliver Wyman is an international management consulting firm that combines deep industry knowledge with specialized expertise in strategy, operations, risk management, organizational transformation, and leadership development. The firm helps clients optimize their businesses, improve their operations and risk profile, and accelerate their organizational performance to seize the most attractive opportunities. Oliver Wyman is part of Marsh & McLennan Companies [NYSE: MMC]. For more information, visit www.oliverwyman.com.