In the cockpit -- a former consultant heads the FAA

Another day, another former consultant joining the Obama administration. This time, it's the newly Senate-confirmed head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), J. Randolph (Randy) Babbitt. A former pilot with over 25 years of flying experience, Babbitt actually founded his own aviation consulting firm, Eclat Consulting, but found himself at Oliver Wyman following its takeover of Eclat in 2007.

A former CEO of the Air Line Pilots Association, Babbitt is perhaps the ultimate industry insider, having worked his way up through it, led its largest union, and gone on to consult on it for private enterprise. His expertise aside, however, there's further reason to believe that Babbitt has the necessary skill-set to succeed in his new job. Having spent his time working alongside Oliver Wyman head John Drzik for the past couple of years, I'm pretty sure Babbitt must have super-human powers of concentration and, um, stay-awakeabiliity. No idea what I'm talking about? Then check out this video of a recent interview with Drzik at the World Economic Forum, and see how long it takes you to wander off to the land of Nod (or another website).

Posted by Phil Stott