FAA Taps Bristol To Run U.S. Air Traffic Organization

On Thursday, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta named agency veteran Teri Bristol as the new COO of its Air Traffic Organization (ATO), which manages the U.S. ATC system. Bristol was most recently deputy COO and had served in an acting capacity since former COO David Grizzle left in December. The FAA appointed Grizzle to the post in July 2011, following the resignation of Henry “Hank” Krakowski after a series of incidents involving controllers sleeping on duty. The ATO manages nearly 80 percent of the agency’s $9.6 billion operations budget and more than 32,000 employees, half of them controllers.