Full Name
The Honorable Marion C. Blakey
Job Title
Former Administrator
Company
Federal Aviation Administration
Speaker Bio
Marion C. Blakey serves as a non-executive director for several corporations and organizations, having retired from Rolls-Royce North America Inc. (RRNA) in 2018 as President and Chief Executive Officer. In this role, Ms. Blakey also served as Chairman of the Board of Rolls-Royce North America Holdings Inc.. In her three years at Rolls-Royce, she helped shepherd a major investment in the Indianapolis site, oversaw the opening of a new California R&T facility while streamlining Rolls-Royce North America operations and creating an environment conducive to growing the Rolls-Royce business base.
Prior to joining Rolls-Royce, Blakey was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) for eight years where she provided the leading voice for the aerospace and defence industry representing more than 270 member companies.
From 2002 to 2007, Blakey was Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) where she operated the world’s largest air traffic control system and managed 44,000 employees and a $14 billion budget.
Prior to 2002, she held several senior positions including Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), as well as ran her own consulting firm focusing on transportation and infrastructure issues.
Ms. Blakey’s board positions include: Director, Sun Country Airlines; Director, Aerojet Rocketdyne; Director, New Vista Acquisition Corporation; Trustee, Noblis; the National Air and Space Museum’s Advisory Board; and member of the advisory boards of Aireon, LLC; Radia, Inc.; and Sunrise Transportation Holdings. She recently served on the Board of Alaska Airlines Group; Cobham plc, and NASA’s National Advisory Council.
Blakey has received numerous honorary degrees and awards, including the National Aeronautic Association’s 2011 Henderson Trophy, Aviation Week & Space Technology’s 2013 Laureate Award, and the National Aeronautic Association’s 2013 Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy, and most recently, the Carol B. Hallett Award from the U. S. Chamber of Commerce and the L.Welch Pogue Award from Aviation Week and Space Technology and the International Aviation Club.
Born in Gadsden, Ala., Blakey received her bachelor’s degree with honors in international studies from Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia. She did graduate work at Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and a fellow in the Royal Aeronautical Society. She carries a Top Secret security clearance.
The Honorable Marion C. Blakey