WASHINGTON—What the airline industry wants from Washington it often gets, and no wonder. The people who regulate airlines on one day can become company executives the next -- and the other way around.
Industry leaders who were once under the Federal Aviation Administration's authority now sit in top positions at the agency. Many former FAA officials and congressional aides have found lucrative jobs in the air travel industry or with its lobbying groups. One top official left the FAA two years ago to become the airline industry's top lobbyist.
