Outspoken Transportation Official Resigns

Mary F. Schiavo, the Transportation Department inspector general who has lambasted the airline industry and government inspectors for inadequate safety precautions, resigned Monday.

The resignation comes amid reports, first published by Business Week magazine Monday, that Schiavo has hired a New York literary agent to find her a book deal, apparently coinciding with her recent criticism of the Federal Aviation Administration and the nation’s airlines.

Transportation Secretary Federico Pena met with Schiavo briefly Monday, after she submitted a two-page letter of resignation to the White House, a department spokesman said.

The letter does not give a reason for her resignation from the job, which pays $115,700 a year. But Schiavo listed her accomplishments, including the assertion that her office had “amassed approximately 1,000 criminal convictions.”

Schiavo, a 40-year-old attorney who learned to fly at the age of 11 and once appeared on the cover of Glamour magazine, could not be reached for comment.

“She wants to speak and write, and probably work as an attorney again,” said Mary Helen Rice, a staff assistant.

In a brief news item, Business Week reported that Schiavo had hired Suzanne Gluck, an agent for International Creative Management, to look for publishing industry interest in a book about air safety problems. The report quoted a publishing industry executive who speculated that Schiavo could land an advance of $300,000 or more.

Gluck was not available for comment and her secretary said that she could not confirm or deny whether the agency is representing Schiavo. Other officials of the agency were not available.