John H. Shaffer
United States
4th Federal Aviation Administrator
In office
March 24, 1969 – March 14, 1973
Appointed byRichard Nixon
Preceded byWilliam F. McKee
Succeeded byAlexander Butterfield
Personal details
Born
John Hixon Shaffer

(1919-02-25)February 25, 1919
Everett, Pennsylvania
DiedSeptember 14, 1997(1997-09-14) (aged 78)
Frederick, Maryland
SpouseJoan Van Week (m. 1943)
Alma materUnited States Military Academy (1943)
Air Force Institute of Technology (1945)
Columbia University

John Hixon Shaffer (February 25, 1919 – September 14, 1997) was an administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration from March 24, 1969 until March 14, 1973.[1][2]

Shaffer was the administrator during an en-masse calling-in-sick strike by air traffic controllers in 1969.[3] He threatened to fire controllers who didn't return to work within 24 hours, calling them "ill-advised".[3] In the summer, Shaffer testified to a congressional committee that air traffic controllers were neither overworked nor underpaid.[4] Shaffer's testimony increased pressure on controllers to return to their jobs. Celebrity lawyer F. Lee Bailey of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) stated, "This guy Shaffer has got to go."[5] The FAA and Shaffer were both later attacked by the PATCO for continuing to operate the air traffic system despite the low number of controllers.[5]

On December 3, 1970, he testified to Congress about aviation safety.[6]

Following his retirement from the FAA, Shaffer was involved in a debate over the use of microwave landing systems in civil aviation and which country's industry should be awarded a contract for construction of the equipment: the US, UK, or Germany. Shaffer himself agreed with British assessments that the American manufactured MLS system was inferior and poorly tested.[7]

Awards

Notes

  1. ^ Hearings. United States Congress Senate Committee on Commerce. 1969. p. 92. John Hixon Shaffer, Born, February 25, 1919, in Everett, Pa.
  2. ^ "John H. Shaffer". Aviation Week Network. December 1, 1997. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Lindsey, Robert (March 27, 1970). "Traffic Disputes and Wide Storms Snarl Airports". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  4. ^ "Unfriendly Skies". Root & Branch (1): 6–7. June 1, 1970 – via libcom.org.
  5. ^ a b "One Man's Slow-Motion Aerial Act". Time. April 6, 1970. ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the original on July 31, 2016. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  6. ^ "Statement of John H. Shaffer [...] Respecting Aviation Safety" (PDF). December 3, 1970. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 27, 2010. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  7. ^ "A New MLS, But Whose?". Time. May 1, 1978. ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  8. ^ "NAA Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy". Aero Club of Washington. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
Government offices Preceded byWilliam F. McKee Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 1969–1973 Succeeded byAlexander Butterfield
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