Ms. Gilligan was named Deputy Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety in July 1995 after 15 years with the Federal Aviation Administration.
As Deputy Associate Administrator, she assists the Associate Administrator in providing oversight and direction for the certification, production approval, and continued airworthiness of aircraft; the certification of pilots, mechanics, and others in safety-related positions; the certification of all operations and maintenance enterprises in domestic civil aviation; development of regulations; and the certification and safety oversight of some 7,300 U.S. commercial airlines and air operators. These programs have a direct impact on every facet of domestic and international civil aviation and are the heart of the Nation's aviation safety efforts.
Aviation Safety programs are carried out by a work force of more than 6,800 employees located in Washington headquarters, nine regional offices, and more than 125 field offices throughout the world. The Aviation Safety work force is augmented by some 16,000 persons in the private-sector aviation community who are designated to perform certain aviation safety functions on behalf of the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA's annual aviation safety budget is more than $1 billion.
Ms. Gilligan was Chief of Staff at the FAA, serving four Administrators. She also served in the Chief Counsel's office in Washington and as a staff attorney in FAA's Eastern Region in New York. Ms. Gilligan is a 1979 graduate of Boston University School of Law and a 1975 graduate of Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY. She resides in Washington, DC.
She received the DOT Secretary's Award for Meritorious Achievement in 1990 and Senior Executive Service Performance Awards in 1993 and 1994.