David “Bruce” Johnson has been appointed director of the FAA’s Air Traffic Service (ATS) division, with Linda Schuessler as his deputy director. Johnson replaces Bill Peacock, who retired May 2 after 30 years with the FAA. Schuessler takes over from Jeff Griffith, who retired late last year.

They are responsible for managing the flow of all air traffic throughout the
U.S., taking under their wing the 18,000 air traffic controllers who staff the nation’s airport control towers, Tracons, en route centers and the FSS facilities. The 24,000 ATS employees represent about half of the FAA’s personnel.

Johnson, who reports directly to FAA associate administrator for ATS Steven Brown, began his FAA career in 1974 as an air traffic controller in the Albuquerque, N.M. en route center and then in the Fort Worth, Texas center. He then spent more than five years as the air traffic manager at the Houston center before serving as the assistant air traffic division manager in the FAA’s Great Lakes region from November 1996 to September 2000.

Since then, Johnson has been the air traffic division manager in the Northwest Mountain region. He holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Northeastern State College in Tahlequah, Okla.

Schuessler has led the air traffic evaluations and investigations staff since May 2002. Before that, she spent two years at the FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center near Washington Dulles International Airport, where she was responsible for tactical operations and system efficiency.

Earlier, Schuessler was the assistant air traffic manager at the Atlanta en route center, where she had joined the FAA in 1974 as a controller. She is a graduate of the University of Tennessee with a bachelor’s degree in math and science education.