Federal Aviation Administration
US civil aviation regulator under the Department of TransportationProfile
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the United States federal agency that regulates civil aviation in the country and the surrounding international waters. It is part of the US Department of Transportation and has its headquarters at the Orville Wright Federal Building in Washington, D.C.
Congress created it in August 1958 under the Federal Aviation Act as the Federal Aviation Agency. It was renamed the Federal Aviation Administration in 1967, when it joined the Department of Transportation. Bryan Bedford has been the administrator since 10 July 2025.
The agency runs the air traffic control and navigation system for civil and military aircraft. It also certifies pilots, aircraft, airlines and mechanics, sets safety standards for airports and funds airport development, regulates commercial space launches and reentries, and works on modernising the National Airspace System through the NextGen programme.
On 13 November 2026 the FAA issued a nationwide ground stop that halted all departing flights in the United States for more than four hours, from 3.54 pm to 8.15 pm Eastern time, according to NBC News. More than 7,000 flights were cancelled.
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