NTSB Chair Homendy

Biography

​​​​​​​Jennifer L. Homendy is the 15th Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), an independent federal agency charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States and significant events in other modes of transportation, including rail, transit, roadway, marine, pipeline, and commercial space. She is the fourth woman to serve as NTSB Chair since the agency was created in 1967.

Homendy has served at the NTSB since 2018. She was first nominated by President Trump and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2018 (to serve a one-year vacancy) and again in 2019 (for a full five-year term) to be a Board Member. In 2021, she was nominated by President Biden and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be Chair.

​Homendy was re-nominated as Chair and Board Member and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2024. Her three-year term as Chair expires on August 10, 2027; her five-year term as Board Member expires on December 31, 2029. See 49 U.S. Code §1111.

As Chair, Homendy serves as the agency’s chief executive officer and chief administrative officer, managing an annual budget of about $140 million and more than 440 full-time employees across the country, including the NTSB’s regional offices located in Anchorage, Alaska; Seattle, Washington; Denver, Colorado; and Washington, DC

Chair Homendy has used her national platform to advocate for the implementation of NTSB safety recommendations across all modes of transportation; in particular, safety recommendations that would save lives on our nation’s roads, where 95% of all transportation deaths occur.

As a vocal champion of the Safe System Approach, Chair Homendy speaks often about the need for a holistic approach to improving road safety, preventing crashes and injuries, and saving lives on our nation’s roads — an approach that has proved successful in other transportation modes, including commercial aviation. Her advocacy includes highlighting strategies to reverse the deadly epidemic of traffic deaths, which have surged nationwide over the last two decades. Her work has been especially focused on protecting vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and people with disabilities.

Among Chair Homendy’s top priorities is to ensure the NTSB’s readiness to carry out its mission amid rapid technological advancement in all modes of transportation, including advanced driver assistance systems, automated vehicles, commercial space transportation, uncrewed aircraft systems, advanced air mobility, supersonic aircraft, high-speed ground transportation, and clean energy sources to fuel vehicles, such as high-voltage lithium-ion batteries and hydrogen. She pushes for measures that will not only save lives but preserve the public’s trust in proven lifesaving technologies, such as automatic emergency braking and forward-collision warning.

Chair Homendy is a staunch advocate for improving passenger and fishing vessel safety​, having served as the Board Member on scene for the fire and subsequent sinking of the Conception dive boat off the coast of California in September 2019: the deadliest U.S. marine tragedy in recent history. She continues to push for the implementation of safety recommendations stemming from the Conception investigation as well as past NTSB investigations, including: the 2018 sinking of the amphibious passenger vessel Stretch Duck 7 in Branson, Missouri; the 2017 capsizing and sinking of fishing vessel Destination in Alaska; and the 2014 capsizing and sinking of fishing vessel Christopher’s Joy in Louisiana.

In aviation, Chair Homendy is focused on addressing NTSB’s long history of concerns with the ​safety of revenue passenger-carrying aviation operations​. These operations — which include parachute jump flights and sightseeing flights conducted in hot air balloons, helicopters, and other aircraft — are not subject to the same maintenance, airworthiness, and operational requirements as other commercial flight operations. Chair Homendy’s passion for this issue is due in part to being the Board Member on scene for multiple tragedies involving these operations, including the crash of a parachute jump flight in Hawaii that killed 11; the midair collision of two sightseeing flights in Alaska that killed six and injured 10; and the crash of a vintage B-17 sightseeing flight that killed seven and injured seven others.

Chair Homendy is also dedicated to continuing to hold commercial aviation in the United States to the highest standards of safety. While a Member of the Board, Chair Homendy reviewed and debated recommendations that would ensure the National Air Space continues to be the safest in the world and that lessons are learned from every accident or incident the NTSB has investigated,

From 2004 to 2018, Chair Homendy served as the Staff Director of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I Committee) of the U.S. House of Representatives. During her time on Capitol Hill, she served as a Senior Fellow in the 115th Congress for the John C. Stennis Center for Public Service, a bipartisan, bicameral leadership development experience for senior staff members of the U.S. Congress. Established in the 103rd Congress, the Stennis Fellows program focuses on future challenges to Congress as an institution of American democracy and the leadership role played by senior congressional staff in meeting those challenges.

Prior to her more than 20 years in public service, she served as Legislative Representative for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), where she represented the interests of working families before Congress and the Executive Branch, focusing on transportation (trucking, rail, and aviation) and international trade issues. While at the IBT, Homendy was a proud member of Teamsters Local 70 in Oakland, California, and served as a classified liaison for the Teamsters on the President’s Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Advisory Committee on Trade, and the U.S. National Administrative Office’s North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation.

In an earlier role at the Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO, Chair Homendy spearheaded transportation labor’s efforts to reauthorize the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s hazardous materials safety program. Before that, Chair Homendy served as Manager of Government Relations and Legislative Representative for the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), where she advocated for the American steel industry and its employees before Congress in the areas of domestic manufacturing, transportation, environment, and energy; and as Senate Assistant for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), a nonprofit organization that advocates on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners.

Chair Homendy is an enthusiastic student of all NTSB modal areas. In addition to earning Pro Board® certification as a Hazardous Materials Responder at the Core Operations Level (with Product Control and Personal Protective Equipment Mission Specific Competencies), Chair Homendy completed Private Pilot Ground School, has logged hours in a Cessna 172, and holds an M2 motorcycle endorsement. She is also an avid runner and cyclist, which fuels her advocacy work on behalf of vulnerable road users.

Her awards include:

• The 2022 Changemaker Award from Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) for her “unwavering leadership in changing the culture of mobility safety.”
• The 2022 “Streetsie” Award from Streetsblog USA.
• The 2023 All Stars Award from Automotive News for the significant impact her leadership has had on improving safety on our highways.”
• The 2023 Larry Willis Leadership Award​ from TTD for her “commitment, dedication, and advocacy on behalf of transportation workers.”
• The Highway Safety Hero Award for 2024 from Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety for her “leadership and contributions to make roadways safer.”

Updated December 9, 2024​

Speeches & Testimony