Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks after addressing the Transportation Research Board in Washington, January 11, 2023.

The Revolving Door Project, a Prospect partner, scrutinizes the executive branch and presidential power. Follow them at therevolvingdoorproject.org.

Following problems with the Federal Aviation Administration’s Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system last week, which led to flight delays all across the nation, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg finds himself embattled and under scrutiny for the breakdown. However, while many critics have been quick to lay blame at Pete’s feet, there is an important context that has been otherwise unreported.

Until last spring, the FAA was overseen by a Trump appointee named Steve Dickson. Dickson is a former Delta executive who, as FAA chief, was running the agency that regulated Delta and its competitors. Unfortunately, that sort of revolving-door arrangement is not at all uncommon for the FAA, which has a history of regulatory capture. The buddy-buddy relationship between the FAA and the industry it oversees was so extreme that the House of Representatives—not known for its heavy scrutiny of industry lobbying—voted unanimously to create a whistleblower office within the FAA insulated from the administrator.

That whistleblower protection was particularly important with Dickson at the helm, given his reported retaliation against a whistleblower who raised safety concerns at Delta while he was an...

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