Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) | Definition, Functions, History, & Organization (2024)

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), agency of the U.S. federal government that is responsible for ensuring the safety and efficiency of civil aviation in the United States and in surrounding international waters. Created as the independent Federal Aviation Agency in 1958, it was incorporated into the newly established Department of Transportation as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 1967.

Functions

In the service of its regulatory responsibilities, the FAA exercises authority over air traffic control and the training and certification of pilots and aviation technicians. The FAA sets safety and efficiency standards for all U.S. airports and oversees domestic aviation through its Flight Standards District Offices. Although the FAA is primarily responsible for civil aviation, it has also developed and operates air traffic control and navigation systems for military aircraft. It regulates the commercial space transportation industry by setting standards for and licensing commercial launch vehicles and launch and reentry operations. Among the agency’s many other regulatory programs are those designed to limit noise and air pollution caused by aircraft and to ensure the safe operation of commercial and private drones, or remotely controlled aerial vehicles.

Formation

In 1926 Pres. Calvin Coolidge signed into law the Air Commerce Act at the request of aviation industry leaders who believed that standardized and coordinated safety regulations would improve aircraft security. In keeping with the legislation, the U.S. Department of Commerce created an aeronautics branch for aviation oversight. In 1934 the branch’s growing autonomy and authority were recognized in its renaming as the Bureau of Air Commerce.

In 1935 the famous aviator Wiley Post and the iconic humorist Will Rogers were killed in a plane crash near Point Barrow, Alaska. Three years later Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Civil Aeronautics Act, which led to the creation of the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA). Disaster struck again in 1956, when a midair collision over the Grand Canyon killed 128 passengers and crew members on a commercial aircraft. In 1958, in response to this incident and related concerns regarding aviation safety, the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration replaced the CAA with the Federal Aviation Agency, which assumed a broader range of regulatory responsibilities.

Leadership and organization

The FAA is headed by an administrator who reports to the U.S. secretary of transportation. The agency is organized into five major regulatory offices (which it officially refers to as “Lines of Business”): Air Traffic Organization, Airports, Commercial Space Transportation, Aviation Safety, and Security & Hazardous Materials Safety.