Two New FAA Regional Administrators Appointed

March 16, 2009 –Focus FAA

Photo of Joe Miniace

Joe Miniace (pictured) and Kathryn Vernon have been named administrators for the Central Region and Northwest Mountain Region, respectively.

Miniace will take over the Central Region on May 4, following the retirement of Chris Blum. Miniace is deputy assistant administrator for human resource management and strategic labor relations, a position he has held since May 2005.

Vernon has been the director of western terminal operations, based in Seattle. Her starting date has not been determined, but she will take over for Steve Bernett, who has been acting regional administrator the last few months.

In November 2006, Vernon left to serve in Iraq for a year (see the Focus FAA story, “Dispatches From The Front: Kathryn Vernon”).

Kim Stevens

Kim Stevens is the publisher of State Aviation Journal, which he founded in 2009. A longtime commercial-rated pilot, he was introduced to state aviation in 1992 as Director of the Nebraska Department of Aeronautics, later serving as Deputy Division Director for the Arizona Department of Transportation's Aeronautics Division. From 2013 to 2018, he was Director of Communications and Operations for the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO) in Washington, D.C. Relocating to North Carolina, Kim worked for the Raleigh-Durham International Airport for two years and now concentrates solely on the Journal. Prior to his aviation career, Kim spent a decade in the newspaper and magazine business.