Based in Washington, Jen managed Aviation Week’s worldwide defense, space and security coverage from 2013 to January 2024.
Prior to taking on the Executive Editor role, Jen was Aviation Week's Congressional Editor. Jen came to Aviation Week in March 2011 from Politico, where she covered the intersection of defense and politics. She also worked as a reporter and editor for Defense Daily, Inside the Army, The Other Paper and The Columbus Dispatch.
Jen received a Master’s degree in journalism as a Kiplinger Fellow at the Ohio State University. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in history and journalism from the University of Michigan.
The incident last month of a Nigerian national flying from New York to Los Angeles on a fake boarding pass is picking up traction on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers want to make it a crime to falsify the documents. House Democrats are taking a legislative approach, introducing last week the False Travel Documents Prohibition Act of 2011, which would make the presentation of a fake boarding pass a crime equivalent to using a fake driver’s license at an airport checkpoint.
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) wants pilots to have more access to information about FAA enforcement actions against them. Last week, Inhofe introduced a “Pilot’s Bill of Rights” that in the event FAA takes action against a pilot, would provide aviators with “all relevant evidence” of the administration’s decision to move ahead. It also would alter the appeals process, making changes to how the National Transportation Safety Board reviews FAA actions and would allow a pilot appealing an FAA decision to opt for a federal district court to review the appeal.
TOUGH SELL: Freshman Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) is one of many Republicans willing to put defense “on the table” for budget cuts, but he is one of the few who are ready to actually start snipping. Mulvaney offered an amendment to the 2012 defense appropriations bill that would cut the topline by $17 billion, freezing defense at 2011 levels. The amendment was likely destined for failure, according to Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), who opposed it, comparing it with two other unsuccessful amendments that sought to ax war funding.
