The new AIR-1 and what she brings to Certification

The FAA Aircraft Certification Service has been subjected to severe scrutiny for obvious reasons. Every action or inaction has been the subject of Hill hearings and all sorts of media coverage. Given that recent high profile it is incomprehensible that neither the DOT nor the FAA announced the December 16^th selection of the AIR-1 Executive Director. Only Aviation Daily highlighted this important leadership decision.
Below, Mr. Broderick’s partial article about Caitlin Locke and her Curriculum Vitae provide important background.

The AIR function has been the subject of a number of posts and their general message is that the FAA is challenged in its determination of airworthiness, particularly aircraft and related products:

• Time for FAA to up its CERTIFICATION game?
• What did the OIG really find in its audit of Boeing-FAA ?
• What can be learned from Piper Fury and Part 23 revision?
• History has an ANSWER for FAA’s 3rd party inspections
• BOEING 737 MAX 10—THE MAZE explained.
• National Academies point out massive future FAA challenge
• A new aviation innovation tests the FAA TC
• Battery Technological Explosion coming, path to FAA approval?
• Scholl interview: a blueprint for innovative TC applicants
• COCKPIT AUTOMATION- ALPA NO, NEVER; does the L in ALPA = LUDDITE ?
• Some Interesting insights into old aviation technologies being reimagined!

Ms. Locke should be an important addition to the Certification Service. Her education should facilitate her work with the TC applicants, in that the MIT “RAT RING” will identify Locke as a peer in industry meetings.

Another significant IMPRIMATUR for her relationships with the field is her history- working up the ranks of the FAA. That creates credibility with the aviation safety professionals who work at:

• Certification Branches (formerly Aircraft Certification Offices (ACO))
• Certificate Management Branches (formerly Manufacturing Inspection Offices (MIO))
• Certificate Management Sections (formerly Manufacturing Inspection District Offices (MIDO))

These facilities are where the important analysis occurs and where the policy pronouncements from Headquarters are implemented (sometimes begrudgingly).

In 1998 the National Academies issued a thoughtful report about AIR and the future- Role of the Aircraft Certification Service (AIR) | Improving the continued airworthiness of civil aircraft …. Director Locke appears well suited to meet that guidance.

Locke Takes Over As FAA Certification Chief

Sean Broderick December 16, 2024

The FAA named CAITLIN LOCKE as the new head of its certification service, the agency confirmed. Locke’s first day in her new position, formally executive director of Aircraft Certification (AIR-1), was Dec. 16. Locke replaces Wes Mooty, who has been serving as acting AIR-1 since Lirio Liu left the…
[To benefit from Aviation’s top writer, one must pay Aviation Week for a subscription]

Caitlin Locke, the new Executive Director of Aircraft Certification (AIR-1) at the FAA, has a strong job and educational resume for this critical position aviation safety and certification. She took over this position on December 16, 2024, replacing Wes Mooty, who was acting after Lirio Liu retired.
Locke has worked her way up through the ranks in various aviation safety roles within the FAA, all relevant to her future responsibilities as AIR-1. Her educational background includes a degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This impressive academic experience will contribute to dealing with an aerospace industry experiencing incredible innovation.
Caitlin Locke has held several key positions at the FAA before becoming the Executive Director of Aircraft Certification (AIR-1). Here are some highlights of her career at the FAA:
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
16 years +
Director, Compliance and Airworthiness
Full-time June 2023 – December 2024
Responsible for executive oversight of a portfolio of projects, ensuring that policy is consistently interpreted and applied throughout the division, and the issuance of all design approvals for domestic and foreign manufacturers, as well as production and original airworthiness certificates.
Provided executive oversight to ensure a process-oriented environment associated with the continued operational safety of products through the interaction and sharing of product safety knowledge
to enable the evaluation of risk.
that policy is consistently interpreted and applied throughout the division, and the issuance of all design approvals for domestic and foreign manufacturers, as well as production and original airworthiness certificates.
to ensure a process-oriented environment associated with the continued operational safety of products through the interaction and sharing of product safety knowledge to enable the evaluation of risk.

Deputy Executive Director (Acting), Flight Standards Service
Oversaw the day-to-day operation of 5,300-employees with responsibility for the development, coordination, and execution of policies, systems, and procedures; public rules, regulations, and standards; and program plans that govern the operations, maintenance, and airworthiness of all U.S. civil aircraft. Oversight of an $860 million budget and a contract portfolio for $60 million in support services.
by engaging with internal and external stakeholders.
overseeing, guiding, and supporting the implementation of programs and initiatives with agency wide impact and/or requiring multi departmental coordination, ensuring projects were conceived, developed, and executed based on impact, importance, and relevance to key initiatives and strategic goals

Chief Of Staff, Flight Standards Service
Collaborated with industry, foreign authorities, congressional offices, and other external organizations on the development and implementation of aviation policy, guidelines, procedures and regulations.
Worked across the Aviation Safety Organization and other FAA Lines of Business to ensure briefing documents, Reports to Congress, correspondence, and other critical external responses are timely, responsive, and correct.
• Developed and approve solutions to current and anticipated problems which cross organizational lines and disciplines, while considering technical, budgetary, regulatory, and political issues that involve other organizations inside and outside the FAA
Senior Technical Advisor
Represented the Associate and Deputy Associate Administrator in the management, direction, and evaluation of activities that support the organization’s goals and objectives.
Served as the technical resource staff person for providing advice and guidance on matters pertaining to statutory and regulatory requirements and other administrative directives.
Provided technical expertise in developing major policy, guidelines, procedures and regulations and trains personnel on covered areas. Utilizes all available resources, including the Office of General Counsel and Government and Industry Affairs, to ensure that the information is clear, concise and accurate.
Represented the Administrator as well as Associate and Deputy Associate Administrator in the management, direction, and evaluation of activities that support the organization’s goals and objectives.
Served as the technical resource staff person for providing advice and guidance on matters pertaining to statutory and regulatory requirements and other administrative directives.
Provided technical expertise in developing major policy, guidelines, procedures and regulations and trains personnel on covered areas. Utilizes all available resources, including the Office of General Counsel and Government and Industry Affairs, to ensure that the information is clear, concise and accurate.
Proactively identified and resolved complex or controversial individual transactional or programmatic issues and accurately interprets regulatory and policy issues related to statutes, regulations and program requirements.
Foreign Affairs Specialist