[4] Before moving to the Federal Aviation Administration, Stephen Dickson retired from service as the Senior Vice President-Flight Operations for Delta Air Lines.

Dickson is a strong advocate for commercial aviation safety and improvements to the US National Airspace System, having served as chairman of several industry stakeholder groups and Federal advisory committees.

[5] He was confirmed in the Senate Commerce Committee by a 14–12 vote on July 10, 2019, to lead an outfit which had been without a permanent head since January 2018.

[6] He was confirmed by a 52–40 vote of the full Senate on July 24, and replaced Acting Administrator Daniel Elwell in the midst of the Boeing 737 MAX groundings.

[9] Dickson's first action as the Administrator of the FAA was inviting pilots for simulator tests of the Boeing 737 MAX, which was announced on August 22, 2019.