Robert Allan Sturgell (born August 1, 1959) is a former Acting Administrator of the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

(FAA), having served from September 14, 2007, to January 15, 2009. Appointed to the position on September 14, 2007, by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, he was never confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Prior to his appointment, he had served as Deputy Administrator of the FAA since 2003.Federal Aviation Administration: Robert A. Sturgell's Biography
.

. Retrieved on April 10, 2008.

Career

Sturgell has been a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

in both civilian and military capacities. He graduated from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

in 1982 and received his law degree from the

University of Virginia Law School The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 as part of his "academical village", and now ...

. He served as an instructor for the

United States Navy Fighter Weapons School United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

before retiring as a

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

, having flown the

F-14 The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic aircraft, supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, Tandem#Aviation, tandem two-seat, twin-tail, all-weather-capable variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for t ...

F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it e ...

, and F-18. After his military career, he became a flight operations supervisor and line pilot for

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...

, flying

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757s and 767s on domestic and international routes. He also practiced aviation law in the

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

area, and served as senior policy adviser at the

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...

(NTSB). In 1998 Sturgell attempted to unseat

Maryland Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single ...

majority leader Democrat Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr. in the 27th legislative district. He was defeated 69% to 31%. On February 10, 2008, two Democratic United States Senators blocked the nomination of Robert Sturgell citing dissatisfaction with FAA Safety oversight and the agency's handling of claims of under staffing of

air traffic controller An Air traffic controller (ATC) is a person responsible for the coordination of traffic in their assigned airspace. Typically stationed in area control centers or control towers, they monitor the position, speed, and altitude of aircraft and c ...

s. This procedural maneuver prevented the full Senate from voting on the appointment. Although Sturgell blamed the Block on the NY/NY/PHL Airspace Redesign, Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey had more pointed concerns. Senator Lautenberg, said in a subsequent press release "Mr. Sturgell helped create the policies that left our air traffic controllers overworked and understaffed, our runways in dangerous condition, more air noise on our communities and the worst flight delays in our history. It's time for President Bush to nominate an Administrator who solves transportation problems, rather than creating more of them." Bobby Sturgell is senior vice president of Washington Operations for

Rockwell Collins Rockwell Collins, Inc. was a multinational corporation headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, providing avionics and information technology systems and services to government agencies and aircraft manufacturers. It was formed when the Collins Radi ...

. Sturgell's responsibilities include developing and implementing the company's governmental, regulatory, legislative, and industrial affairs strategies, and maintaining relationships with congressional members, staff, and other administration officials. He was named to this position in April 2009. In 2018,

United Technologies United Technologies Corporation (UTC) was an American multinational corporation, multinational list of conglomerates, conglomerate headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut. It researched, developed, and manufactured products in numerous are ...

acquired Rockwell Collins, merging it with their UTC Aerospace Systems subsidiary to form

Collins Aerospace Collins Aerospace is an American technology company that is one of the world's largest suppliers of aerospace and defense products. It was formed in 2018 from the merger of Rockwell Collins and UTC Aerospace Systems. Headquartered in Charlotte, ...

. In November of that year, Sturgell was named Collins Aerospace's Vice President for Government Programs. He has also served on the Executive Committee of the National Defense Industries Association.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturgell, Robert Allan 1959 births Living people Administrators of the Federal Aviation Administration George W. Bush administration personnel Maryland Republicans United States Naval Academy alumni University of Virginia School of Law alumni