Christopher Kelly
Associate Administrator for Airports
Chris Kelly was appointed FAA Associate Administrator for the Office of Airports (ARP) in October 2026.
As the head of ARP, Kelly will provide leadership in planning and developing a safe and efficient national airport system. ARP is responsible for all airport safety programs and inspections and standards for airport design, construction, and operation. ARP also awards billions of dollars in airport grant funding every year.
Previously Kelly was senior regulatory attorney at Southwest Airlines, where he focused on Department of Homeland Security and FAA matters, including policy and regulatory issues related to airports.
His nearly 14 years of government experience includes serving in a variety of key leadership positions at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where he was also a career member of the Senior Executive Service. Notably, during his tenure at ICE, Kelly served as the Assistant Director for Policy and Regulatory Affairs where he oversaw the agency’s regulatory program and managed an office with a budget of more than $12 million responsible for developing and issuing agency policy and guidance that governed the operation of a federal agency with a $9 billion budget and approximately 21,000 employees.
Before that he was Acting Chief of Staff for ICE, serving as the primary strategic advisor to the Director and a key liaison to DHS leadership, the White House, and other federal agencies.
Kelly earned his Juris Doctor from the Northern Illinois University College of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Arizona State University. He is an instrument-rated private pilot and aircraft owner who enjoys general aviation flying in his spare time.