Honorable Linda Hall Daschle

The daughter of an aircraft mechanic, Daschle became the first woman to serve as acting FAA administrator.

Daschle got her first aviation job at a FAA flight service station while attending Kansas State University. She later joined the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) as deputy regional director and then regional director in their Kansas City office. She was transferred to Washington, D.C., and promoted to head the agency's congressional and consumer affairs office.

In 1993, she was nominated by President Bill Clinton and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be deputy administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. She became the first female as FAA acting administrator in 1996 before returning to the private sector in 1997 with the Washington office of Baker, Donelson, Bearman and Caldwell. In 2008, she started an aviation consulting practice, LHD & Associates, Inc., a company she led until her retirement in 2018.

Daschle has received numerous aviation honors, including the Kansas Governor's Aviation Honor Award, the Amelia Earhart Pioneering Achievement Award, the Glen A. Gilbert Memorial Award and the Donald D. Engen Aero Club Trophy for Aviation Excellence. Two aviation scholarships have been created in her name ?€“ the AAAE Linda Hall Daschle Women in Aviation scholarship and the Linda Hall Daschle Scholarship for Aviation Excellence at South Dakota State University.

Daschle currently serves on the board of Aireon LLC, EG Acquisition Corporation, the National Air and Space Museum and is a member of the FAA's Management Advisory Council. She is married to former U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle and has three step-children and six grandchildren.