You have a friend in the White House, RFK Jr tells anti-vaxxers

In July 2025, the Trump administration nominated Jeffrey Anderson, a former Delta Air Lines pilot, to serve as the US ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). However, the White House withdrew its nomination after facing opposition from the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), a union representing over 79,000 pilots at 42 US and Canadian airlines.

ALPA deemed Anderson unqualified for the position, citing his support for raising the mandatory airline pilot retirement age. Last year, some US lawmakers also urged the administration to advocate for increasing the retirement age to 67 from 65 at the ICAO, but Congress ultimately rejected the proposal in 2024. The ICAO, based in Montreal, sets standards for aviation across its 193 member countries, though it has no enforcement powers.

The post of US ambassador to ICAO has remained vacant since July 2022, when previous appointee C.B. Sullenberger stepped down after briefly holding the position. International rules currently prohibit airline pilots over 65 from flying in most countries outside the US. This month, Ukraine called on ICAO to urge its member states to ban operations in Russian airspace following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.