Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19530120: A specially recruited team of Italian-speaking CAA air traffic control experts left for Italy to assist that country in improving the operation of its airways.
19530120: Dwight D. Eisenhower became President, succeeding Harry S Truman.
19610120: John F. Kennedy became President, succeeding Dwight D. Eisenhower. The resignation of FAA Administrator Elwood R. Quesada became effective, and Deputy Administrator James T. Pyle became Acting Administrator. (See March 3, 1961.)
19640120: The Beech King Air first flew. The aircraft received type certification on May 19, becoming the first U.S. light twin-engine turboprop business aircraft to be type-certificated.
19690120: Richard M. Nixon became President, succeeding Lyndon B. Johnson.
19700120: FAA and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare reached an agreement with 31 scheduled and charter airlines on the retrofit of Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines with smoke-reducing combustors. Under the retrofit plan, the airlines voluntarily agreed to install combustors on approximately 1,000 Boeing 727s, Boeing 737s, and Douglas DC-9s by December 31, 1972. The combustors reduced the level of visible pollutants emitted by jet engines, but had no effect on invisible pollutants. (See December 31, 1970.)
19770120: Jimmy (James E.) Carter became President, succeeding Gerald R. Ford.
19780120: Fulfilling one of President Carter’s campaign promises, the Federal Aviation Administration and other executive agencies used the Zero Based Budget (ZBB) process in submitting its fiscal year 1979 budget proposal. In applying ZBB principles, the Office of the Secretary of Transportation divided FAA’s budget into 16 “decision units” which were expected to facilitate budget choices. For each unit, FAA developed four “decision packages,” reflecting four different funding levels, and then ranked the packages in priority order. ZBB continued during the Carter years but was discontinued under the Reagan Administration.
19810120: Ronald Reagan became President, succeeding Jimmy Carter. The resignations of Langhorne M. Bond as FAA Administrator and Quentin S. Tayor as Deputy Administrator became effective, although Taylor accepted another post with FAA (see May 4, 1977). Charles E. Weithoner, Associate Administrator for Administration, became Acting Administrator. (See April 22, 1981.)
19890120: George Bush became President, succeeding Ronald Reagan.
19930120: William J. Clinton became President, succeeding George Bush. FAA’s Administrator Thomas C. Richards left office with the Bush Administration, and Joseph M. Del Balzo became Acting Administrator (see August 10, 1993).
19990120: Department of Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater and FAA Administrator Jane Garvey dedicated a new, first-of-its-kind air traffic control system, the Display System Replacement, at the air route traffic control center in Auburn, Washington. The DSR replaced equipment that had been in service for 20 to 30 years with upgraded displays, and computer hardware and software. (See March 14, 1997; July 14, 2000.)
20010120: George W. Bush became the forty-third President of the United States.
20050120: At 4:01 a.m. eastern standard time, air traffic controllers inaugurated Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM), a new procedure designed to allow aircraft to fly more direct routes at the most fuel-efficient altitudes, saving time and money for airlines and travelers alike. Controllers began directing planes to fly 1,000 feet above and below each other at altitudes of 29,000 feet to 41,000 feet. Although invisible to passengers, the procedural change doubled airspace routes at the affected altitudes and greatly increased the routing options available to pilots and air traffic controllers. Before commercial airlines and other aviation users could take advantage of RVSM, FAA would first determine if their aircraft were properly equipped. Canadian, Mexican, Caribbean, and South American civil aviation authorities also began RVSM on this date. (See November 26, 2003.)
20090120: Barrack Obama became the 44th President of the United States.
20170120: Donald J. Trump took the oath of office as the President of the United States.
20210120: Joe Biden became the 46th President of the United States.
20230120: The State Department announced FAA would be opening its first office in Mexico. The office provided legal advice to help Mexico implement the requirements and recommendations through legislative channels to recover FAA’s civil aviation Category 1. (See September 14, 2020; September 26, 2022; November 23, 2022; July 13, 2023.)