RTCA President Margaret T. Jenny has informed the Board of Directors of her intention to retire from RTCA this August, at the end of her second 5-year contract. RTCA’s Board will initiate a search process to identify a successor for her.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to lead this organization for the past 10 years, and I am proud of what our team, and the hundreds of participants on our committees have accomplished,” Jenny stated in a press release on June 8. “Together we have shown what can be accomplished when people with different agendas, and even competing interests, set their minds to finding common ground and hammering out consensus-driven solutions to seemingly intractable problems.”
“As my second 5-year term comes to a close,” she continued, “it is the right time for me personally and for RTCA, to transition to the next generation of leadership. I leave with the knowledge that RTCA is well-positioned to face new challenges and will continue to succeed.”
RTCA Chairman Craig Fuller stated, “Margaret has worked tirelessly this past decade to fully engage the entire aviation community while advancing recommendations related to some of aviation’s greatest challenges. She has earned the gratitude and respect of all who work to improve and modernize our nation’s air transportation system and the global air transportation system as well.”
Two weeks ago came word that RTCA, which for decades has developed standards and worked through technical challenges at the behest of the Federal Aviation Administration, is no longer a Federal Advisory Committee (FAC) for the agency. The FAA declined to renew its contract with RTCA and will instead take over some of what RTCA was doing — though, for now, the changes will be limited.
RTCA is now an independent Standards Development Organization (SDO) though it continues to work with the FAA using nearly the same RTCA committee structure it has for years. The group will also continue working with EUROCAE, its European counterpart, to develop joint standards.
“Mindful of the FAA’s desire to continue without interruption, the production of high-quality standards and guidance materials, RTCA is committed to a seamless transition,” said Jenny in a prepared statement.
One distinct change is that the Drone Advisory Committee and the NextGen Advisory Committee will be managed by the FAA, at least until a contractor can be found to handle day-to-day operations — a contractor that could potentially be RTCA.
For more on the shift, read “RTCA Is No Longer an FAA Advisory Committee.”
