Story ID: 
New FAA Staffers Named
By: AIN Staff
Caption: President Bush has appointed Douglas Lavin as FAA assistant administrator of the newly created Office of International Aviation, and Sharon Pinkerton as as
Word Count: 317
President Bush has appointed Douglas Lavin as FAA assistant administrator of the newly created Office of International Aviation, and Sharon Pinkerton as assistant administrator of the Office of Aviation Policy, Planning and Environment.Lavin will be responsible for coordinating all of the FAA’s international efforts and advancing the nation’s longstanding leadership in aviation on the international front. His office will concentrate on international standardization and harmonization efforts in safety and air traffic control, creating an aviation safety network among developing countries and strengthening ties with civil aviation authorities around the world, the FAA said.Pinkerton will lead the agency’s strategic policy and planning efforts and is coordinating the FAA’s reauthorization before Congress. She will also be responsible for national aviation policies and strategies in the environmental and energy arenas.FAA Administrator Marion Blakey announced in February that she was establishing a separate office for international aviation to maintain the nation’s role as the world aviation leader. And she said that by creating the new office for international aviation, the new assistant administrator for policy and planning will be freed to focus on developing national policies, goals and priorities for a complex agenda that requires keeping tabs on changing technology, as well as environmental and energy policy.Lavin’s public service career includes several positions with the Commerce Department under the first Bush Administration. A Boston University School of Law graduate, he started his own law firm that specialized in international trade and technology issues.Pinkerton most recently served as staff director/counsel for the House government reform subcommittee, beginning in 1999. There, in addition to organizing aviation hearings and international delegations, she participated in drafting and negotiating the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, the Air System Stabilization Bill and the General Aviation Reparations Act. She is a certified public accountant and holds a law degree from the University of Florida College of Law.