Sully Sullenberger nominated to be US rep to the Council of the ICAO

[MarkD]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-15/biden-picks-pilot-sullenberger-morgan-stanley-s-nides-as-envoys (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-15/biden-picks-pilot-sullenberger-morgan-stanley-s-nides-as-envoys?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=business&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business)
Rank of Ambassador, appointment subject to Senate confirmation

[atakacs]

Well they could have made a worse choice...

[NutLoose]

Blimey, a sensible recommendation, that’s a rarity.
Though I have to admit Biden does appear to pick the right people for the jobs.

[bafanguy]

"Biden is also nominating C.B. “Sully” Sullenberger -- the retired pilot who safely landed a US Airways plane in the Hudson River -- as an ambassador to the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization, the White House said Tuesday."

So what's an ambassador to some council ? He, along with other ceremonial appointees, will preside over some governmental panel where ideas go to die ?

[Klauss]

Hm. In my experience, the Council of ICAO actually decides things. It´s the top body of ICAO, it´s where the buck stops

[mgahan]

As the Assembly elects the Council members or, more correctly, the States who are represented on the Council it should probably be said that the peak body is the Assembly; however, the Council makes the day to day decisions based on the work on those in the engine rooms called the Bureaus.

Good choice by the US in any case.

[Airmann]

With all due respect, I hope he’s properly qualified. Yes what he did was fantastic. But does that qualify a person to hold a position? And how many pilots could also have pulled off that landing? Should we use all the grounded A320s to find out. You’ll have your nominees for all future Aviation regulator/committee posts.

[pattern_is_full]

Not to worry. Prior to the event on the Hudson:

1973 - BS, USAF Academy, "Top Flyer" award for his class
1973 - MS (Industrial Psychology), Purdue University
1979 - MPA (Public Administration), University of Northern Colorado
Accident investigator - USAF, ALPA
ALPA: local safety chair, national technical committee member
Licensed instructor - SEL, ME, IFR, glider
Instructor in US Airways' CRM program
Founder and CEO, Safety Reliability Methods, Inc.

[Equivocal]

I have some sympathy with Airmann's view. Capt. Sullenberger, without doubt, performed brilliantly when faced with very difficult circumstances (and I suspect performed similarly on a good number of occasions), but the business of ICAO, especially at that level has little to do with the mundane business of flying an aircraft. But I wish Capt. Sullenberger well if he finds himself in the role.

[WillowRun 6-3]

A more accurate - and pertinent - description of ICAO's structure is that the Assembly is the "whole organization" while Council is the governimg board, its board of directors. In the Assembly, which meets formally only once every three years, every Member State has one equal vote. The Council . . . works differently, to a sigmificant extent.

The role of the U.S. Permanent Representative to the Council, with rank of Ambassador, isn't just ceremonial or "stuffed shirt" and also isn't overtly technical. For the latter, there's the Air Navigation Commission, while for the former, there are a goodly number of officials in the State Department (and the Congress) who will gladly punch out the diplomatic platitudes.

In the past several seasons I've met and discussed "stuff" with a number of Council reps from major aviation states, including the U.S. Their most essential attribute and quality was credibility, not some Harvard- professor-like ability to pontificate on abstruse diplomatic concepts. One prior U.S. Permanent Rep had a legal background and high-level responsibility for one of the largest airports in the country. Another U.S. Rep had background covering senior military and flying roles, airline flying, and U.S. government interagency role as well.

The current nomination is an excellent choice. ICAO is approaching a crossroads, though it may be impolitic to say it out loud. But just for openers, as the Council continues its process of the Article 55 (e) investigation of the Ryanair FR4978 incident, would anyone be surprised that Amb. Sullenberger (if confirmed) will be a forceful, broadly credible, and even compelling advocate for an investigatory process of irrefutable and undeniable integrity?

The Senate should confim him Without Delay. And I'd gladly drop eveything and work with the nominee to brief up for the confirmation hearing, pro bono publico.