Phil Washington
Phil Washington | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration | |
Nominee | |
| Assuming office TBD | |
| President | Joe Biden |
| Succeeding | Stephen Dickson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1958 (age 65–66) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Education | Columbia College Chicago (BBA) Webster University (MM) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1976–2000 |
| Rank | Command Sergeant Major |
| Awards | Defense Superior Service Medal |
Philip A. Washington (born 1958) is an American businessman working as the CEO of Denver International Airport. He was previously CEO of the Los Angeles Metro, and served as the head of president Joe Biden's transportation transition team. In July 2022, Washington was nominated to serve as administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.[1]
Early life and education
Washington was born in the South Side neighborhood of Chicago and lived in the Altgeld Gardens Homes. When he was 17 years old, Washington was expelled from high school and decided that the best way to get away from the place was to enlist in the United States Army.[2]
After twenty-four years, he had risen to the rank of Command Sergeant Major, being stationed in Fort Carson, Colorado. During his time in the military, he got a Bachelor of Business Administration degree at Columbia College Chicago and a Master of Management from Webster University. In 2000, he left the army and applied for assistant general manager of administration at the Regional Transportation District. Cal Marsella, the CEO, gave him the job.[3]
Career
RTD
Washington began his work as assistant general manager in 2000. In June 2009, Washington was named as the interim chief after Marsella stepped down.[4] In December 2009, the RTD announced that Washington would become the next CEO after the board voted in favor of his appointment.[5][6]
LACMTA
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In May 2015, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti announced that Washington would become the new CEO of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, replacing Art Leahy.[7][8]
In 2018, Washington was honored at the Los Angeles Sustainability Coalition Annual Awards Dinner for his role in the Measure M expansion.[9]
In November 2020, Washington was named Team Lead for the Joe Biden presidential transition Agency Review Team for the United States Department of Transportation.[10][11] In February 2021, after informing the Metro Board not to renew or extend his contract, Washington announced he would be retiring from the post that May.[12][13]
Denver International Airport
On June 7, 2021, Denver mayor Michael Hancock nominated Washington to become the CEO of Denver International Airport, taking over the position from CEO Kim Day who was retiring after 13 years.[14][15] A few days after, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department had a criminal investigation at LACMTA's offices related to a criminal investigation into Washington, which came after a Metro whistleblower's claims of corruption. The investigation was of Metro's sexual harassment hotline, which was found to cost more than $8,000 per call after "multiple no-bid contracts to run the service were awarded to Peace Over Violence, a charity led by a close friend and campaign donor of L.A. County Supervisor and Metro board member Sheila Kuehl."[16][17] Washington maintained that he was innocent and that the complaint was from a disgruntled employee, with Hancock supporting him.[18] Despite the alligations and the investigation, the Denver City Council unanimously voted to approve Washington as the new CEO.[19][20]
References
- ^ "White House set to nominate next FAA administrator, former city transit exec Phil Washington". The Seattle Times. 2022-06-09. Retrieved 2022-06-09.
- ^ Huttenbach, Laura Lee. "PROFILE OF PHIL WASHINGTON, CEO OF LA METRO" (PDF). Routematch.
- ^ Hudson, Miller (April 13, 2015). "Phil Washington — The Accidental Transit Manager". Colorado Politics.
- ^ Leib, Jeffrey (June 9, 2009). "RTD's assistant GM named interim chief". The Denver Post.
- ^ "Denver RTD selects Washington as next GM/CEO". Progressive Railroading. December 17, 2009.
- ^ Leib, Jeffrey (December 15, 2009). "RTD veteran named CEO". The Denver Post.
- ^ "METRO WELCOMES NEW CEO PHIL WASHINGTON". Paul Krekorian. May 8, 2015.
- ^ "MAYOR GARCETTI ANNOUNCES PHILLIP WASHINGTON AS NEW METRO CEO". May 12, 2015.
- ^ "Metro CEO Phillip A. Washington Honored at Los Angeles Sustainability Coalition Annual Awards Dinner". Los Angeles Sentinel. December 13, 2018.
- ^ Linton, Joe (November 10, 2020). "Metro CEO Phil Washington Named To Biden Transition Team". Streetsblog Los Angeles.
- ^ Luczak, Marybeth (November 11, 2020). "Biden-Harris Taps Washington for Transportation ART". Railway Age.
- ^ "L.A. Metro CEO Phillip A. Washington to step down in May". The Source (Metro). February 3, 2021.
- ^ Henry, Jason; Scauzillo, Steve (February 3, 2021). "LA Metro CEO Phillip Washington to step down in May". Los Angeles Daily News.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Mayor Hancock Nominates Phil Washington as CEO of Denver Airport". Denver. June 7, 2021.
- ^ Huspeni, Dennis (June 28, 2021). "Washington touts his experience as Council begins nominee approval process". The Denver Gazette.
- ^ Alvarez, Alayna (June 15, 2021). "DIA's newly named leader connected to public corruption allegations". Axios.
- ^ Henry, Jason (February 19, 2021). "L.A. County sheriff searches offices of LA Metro, oversight board member in criminal probe". Los Angeles Daily News.
- ^ Kovaleski, Tony (June 22, 2021). "Mayor's nominee for Denver's airport CEO: 'I've done nothing wrong'". KMGH-TV.
- ^ Swanson, Conrad (July 12, 2021). "Denver City Council approves Phil Washington as next Denver airport CEO". The Denver Post.
- ^ Metzger, Hannah (July 12, 2021). "Phil Washington confirmed as new CEO of Denver International Airport". The Denver Gazette.