Recently the Flight Standards Service announced that John Allen will be their new Director when Jim Ballough retires in January of 2009. Allen already has a running start on his new assignment and has put together a new leadership structure. Jim Ballough has agreed to delay his retirement to serve in an advisory capacity during the transition. With the greater demands and the many changes in aviation, the Flight Standards director’s office will also have two deputies, John McGraw and Doug Dalbey.

McGraw, who has served as Manager, Flight Technologies and Procedures Division, will be the new Deputy Director, Flight Standards Policy, while Dalbey, who most recently served as Manager, Flight Standards for the Western Pacific Region, will be the new Deputy Director, Flight Standards Field Operations. These two positions are critical for both a strengthened focus on policy as well as a sharper concentration on field operations, and McGraw and Dalbey contribute a wealth of experience.

John McGraw joined FAA in 1994 as an engineer. His assignments in the Aircraft Certification Service included Acting Assistant Manager, Aircraft Engineering Division; Acting Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate Standards Staff; and Manager, Airplane and Flightcrew Interface Branch in the Transport Airplane Directorate. Prior to joining FAA, he was a Test Director/Test Pilot for the U.S. Army Aviation Technical Test Center and a Flight Test Engineer for the U.S. Navy Rotary Wing Test Directorate at the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River.

Doug Dalbey, who joined FAA in 1987, has held several Aviation Safety Inspector positions. He has managed the Anchorage FSDO, Dallas FSDO, Southwest Airlines Certificate Management Office, and American Airlines Certificate Management Office. He also served as the Senior Technical Advisor to the Director of Flight Standards. Prior to joining the FAA he was a U.S. Army fixed-wing aircraft mechanic, a Texas Air National Guard avionics technician, and a Quality Assurance Representative for the Defense Logistics Agency.

About Flight Standards Service
The Flight Standards Service promotes safe air transportation by setting the standards for certification and oversight of airmen, air operators, air agencies, and designees. It also promotes safety of flight of civil aircraft and air commerce by accomplishing certification, inspection, surveillance, investigation, and enforcement, by setting regulations and standards, and by managing the system for registration of civil aircraft and all airmen records.
For more information, contact Nick Sabatini:
www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/offices/afs/