Summit Notebook

Aerospace Industries Association Chief Executive Officer Marion Blakey says when she started working on aviation issues earlier in her career she was hooked.

She has held a number of prominent positions in Washington that emphasized transportation and safety.

“If you sort of want to look at the thread, that’s the thread,” Blakey said in an interview at the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit.

“And it took me into aviation. And you get Jet-A  in your veins and it’s over,” she said with a laugh.  (For those not in the know Jet-A is jet fuel.)

“It’s pretty addictive.”

Blakey took her interest in transportation safety to a level not seen by most people and was head of the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board during the Bush administration.

“Life is a series of opportunities and you rarely see yourself as others see you,” Blakey said. “It’s building on strengths, personal characteristics, and interests and training. But it all comes together often in things that there’s no way to predict.”

Photo credit: Reuters/Mike Theiler (AIA CEO Blakey)