He previously served as chief operating officer of Supernal under the Hyundai Motor Company from 2020 to 2023, as principal of the aviation consultancy Whitaker Air Space from 2016 to 2020, and as deputy administrator of FAA from 2013 to 2016.

[5][2] He won a Louis C. Kesselman Endowment Award in 1982 from the Department of Political Science at the University of Louisville as an undergraduate student.

[6] Whitaker began his aviation career as a litigator, then as assistant general counsel of international and regulatory affairs at Trans World Airlines (TWA).

[5] There, he collaborated with industry and government to drive the transition of the nation’s air traffic control system from radar to a satellite-enabled surveillance technology (ADS-B).

[2] From 2020 to 2023,[2] he served as the chief operating officer of Supernal, a Hyundai Motor Group company designing an electric advanced air mobility (AAM) vehicle.