Midwest Center For Traffic Safety

The Honorable Jennifer Homendy Chairwoman, National Transportation Safety Board Jennifer Homendy is the 15th Chairwoman 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. Chairwoman 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 Chairwoman. Homendy was re-nominated as Chairwoman and Board Member and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2024. Her three-year term as Chairwoman expires on August 10, 2027; her five-year term as Board Member expires on December 31, 2029. See 49 U.S. Code §1111. As Chairwoman, Ms. Homendy serves as the agency’s chief executive officer and chief administrative officer, managing an annual budget of $145 million and 445 full-time employees across the country, including the NTSB’s regional offices located in Anchorage, Alaska; Seattle, Washington; Denver, Colorado; and Washington, DC. From 2004 to 2018, Chairwoman 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. Prior to her more than 20 years in public service, Chairwoman Homendy 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, Chairwoman Homendy was a proud member of Teamsters Local 70 in Oakland, California. From 1997 to 1999, she was a legislative representative for the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, specializing in motor carrier, rail, hazardous material, and nuclear waste transportation safety. Chairwoman Homendy also held previous roles at the National Federation of Independent Business and the American Iron and Steel Institute.

 

Chairwoman Homendy completed her undergraduate studies at the Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg and obtained her Master of Transportation Safety Administration degree from the Institute for Global Road Safety and Security from Clemson University.