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Elisabeth Smeda
Acting Deputy Regional Administrator, New England Region
Elisabeth Smeda is the FAA’s Acting Deputy Regional Administrator for the New England Region. She began serving in the role in June 2025. Previously, she was the Supervisory Senior Advisor for the New England Region Office of the Regional Administrator.
David Kessler
Acting Deputy Regional Administrator, Central Region
David Kessler became the Acting Deputy Regional Administrator for FAA's Central Region in Kansas City, Missouri, in March 2025. The FAA’s Central Region encompasses the states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.
June Green
Acting Executive Director, Office of National Engagement and Regional Administration
June Green began serving as the Acting Executive Director of the FAA Office of National Engagement and Regional Administration (ARA) in July 2025. In the role, she leads a nationwide organization through a headquarters office in Washington, D.C., and nine regional offices strategically located across the country.
Keeley Amundson
Tuesday, June 10, 2025Acting Deputy Regional Administrator, Northwest Mountain Region (ANM)
Keeley Amundson began serving in June 2025 as the Acting Deputy Regional
Administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Northwest Mountain Region (ANM). In this capacity, Keeley acts as the second principal FAA representative for Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. She provides strategic leadership on cross-organizational issues and engages with industry stakeholders, the public, and various governmental entities.
In December 2022, Keeley was appointed as the Western-Regional Operations Center (W-ROC) Manager, which is located in ANM. The ROCs are the FAA's 24/7/365 communications hubs for aviation accidents, incidents, and natural disasters. The W-ROC is responsible for covering ANM, the Western Pacific, and the Alaskan Regions. Before this role, in 2022, Keeley was appointed as the Western Service Area’s Airspace and Procedures South Team Manager. She supported the Western Pacific Regional Administrator’s Office and air traffic facilities in Arizona, Nevada, California, Hawaii, and the South Pacific Islands.
In 2021, Keeley was recognized with the ANM Regional Administrator’s Special Award for Value as she completed her detail for the ANM Executive Operations Manager position that began in July 2020. This position provided experience bringing together the FAA Lines of Business, Staff Offices, the Federal Protective Services, the General Services Administration, and the ANM facility's building lessor. She served as the ANM Regional Office Facility Manager and managed projects during a time when travel was restricted and employees were in a hybrid environment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keeley brings over 23 years of experience with the FAA, including more than 12 years in management roles, with the majority of that time being in the Air Traffic Organization (ATO). Known for her systemic operational expertise, she held various roles in air traffic operations for 20 years. These positions included Certified Air Traffic Controller and Traffic Management Coordinator at the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC), and at the Seattle ARTCC, she was a Front Line Manager and a Supervisory Traffic Management Coordinator. Her leadership style, with safety at the forefront, focuses on the guiding principles of Empathy, Trust, and Teamwork.
Keeley earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Colorado State University.
Kevin Hubbard
Deputy Regional Administrator
Doug Lane
Southwest Region Deputy Regional Administrator
Doug Lane serves as the Deputy Regional Administrator in the Southwest Region. He is accountable for sharing the responsibilities of the Regional Administrator in a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) service center region.
Mary McCarthy
Director, New York Area Program Integration Office
Mary has been the Director of the New York Area Program Integration Office (NYAPIO) since March 27, 2023. Previously, she was detailed into that position from April 2022 through December 5, 2022. The purpose of NYAPIO is to reduce delays using the Integrated Master Schedule and the Delay Reduction Plan for the New York Area. NYAPIO accomplishes that by leading an internal matrix team; overseeing integration of all activities to address congestion and flight delays; and facilitating communication among stakeholders.
Debra Sanning
Central Region Acting Regional Administrator
Debra Sanning is currently servings as the acting Regional Administrator for FAA's Central Region, which is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. The Central Region is comprised of the four states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.
Aleta Best, PH.D.
Tuesday, June 10, 2025Acting Regional Administrator, Northwest Mountain Region (ANM)
Aleta Best is currently the Acting Regional Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Northwest Mountain Region. She has 24 years of federal government program management and supervisory experience and has worked with numerous stakeholders within FAA, DOT, and other federal agencies.
Most recently, she served as the Deputy Regional Administrator for ANM. Previously, she served as the Branch Manager, Program Development Branch, Office of Accident Investigation and Analysis (AVP) in Aviation Safety (AVS), where she oversaw five programs with a total annual contract budget of $50M+, initiated annual increases for AVP’s contract funding, and represented AVP in the NASA-FAA System Wide Safety Research Transition Team, AVS Voluntary Safety Reporting Program, and Aspiring Managers Program. Her previous FAA assignments include program manager roles for the System Safety Management Transformation program, the General Aviation and Part 135 Activity Survey, and Aviation Safety Reporting Program.
In the Office of the Secretary of Transportation's Competition Policy Division, Aleta led the determination of initial rounds of payments to U.S. airlines under the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act following 9/11, analyses of antitrust immunity applications from U.S. and foreign airline alliances, the multi-year Economic Dialogue between DOT and the Civil Aviation Administration of China, and a multi-year joint study between DOT and European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition. She also coordinated the Competition segment of the Secretary of Transportation’s Future of Aviation Advisory Committee; represented DOT on the Task Force on Travel and Competitiveness, established by President Obama under Executive Order 13597; and wrote speeches for several Assistant Secretaries.
Prior to joining the Department of Transportation, she was an assistant professor of strategic management at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Her private sector experience includes lead systems analyst roles at Fortune 500 and academic institutions and consultant roles for small business development programs. She holds a B.A. in Computer Science from Boston University, an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a Ph.D. in Strategic Management from Texas A&M University, and Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.