Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday named six new airport commissioners, including a major critic who has sued to stop the $11 billion plan to overhaul LAX from going forward.

Valeria Velasco, president of the Alliance for a Regional Solution to Airport Congestion, was named to the Board of Airport Commissioners, along with urban and environmental planner Sylvia Patsaouras, labor leader Joseph Aredas, attorneys Michael Lawson and Alan Rothenberg, and Fernando Torres-Gil, acting dean at the UCLA School for Public Affairs.

The appointments signal a shift toward a regional approach to solving air traffic congestion, rather than former Mayor James Hahn’s reliance on the plan to rebuild LAX. Velasco’s group has sued to halt Hahn’s master plan for LAX.

Villaraigosa has also replaced most of the board that presided over contracting controversies that led to the resignation of former President Ted Stein. Only one commissioner, Walter Zifkin, will stay on for another term.

In a statement, Villaraigosa said he looked for appointees with “the highest ethical standards, a commitment to aviation security and safety and a shared view that we must expand our regional aviation system rather than relying on LAX alone.”

The commission oversees the affairs of Los Angeles International Airport and the Ontario, Van Nuys and Palmdale airports.