[aviation news]
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation voted Wednesday to advance Bryan Bedford’s nomination for FAA administrator, despite growing opposition over his stances on aviation safety-related issues.
The confirmation of Bedford, the longtime CEO of Republic Airways, will now move to the full Senate after a narrow 15-13 vote. The vote was a partisan split, with united support from Republicans and unanimous opposition from Democrats.
Bedford has spent more than three decades working in the aviation industry, with supporters pointing to his experience as a key qualification. He has led Republic Airways since 1999 and is a certificated private pilot with multi-engine and instrument ratings.
Bedford’s biography on Republic’s website previously misrepresented him as a commercial pilot for most of the past 15 years. That detail was removed, however, after a Politico investigation found that FAA records fail to back up the claim. Bedford this week admitted that he never obtained commercial certification.
Still, a wide coalition of aviation stakeholders has lined up to support the Republic chief. Bedford has been backed by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), National Air Transportation Association (NATA), Airports Council International, Regional Airline Association (RAA)—where he is a board member—and Airlines for America (A4A), which represents United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and other major U.S. carriers.
In addition, five former FAA administrators and acting administrators—including Joe Biden appointee Mike Whitaker, his predecessor—have endorsed Bedford.
“The flying public, and the entire aviation ecosystem, would be well served by his swift installation as FAA Administrator,” they wrote in a letter to the Senate committee.
1,500 Hours
Despite broad support, Bedford also has his fair share of detractors. He faced particularly sharp criticism from Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the committee’s ranking member, and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who this week announced they would oppose his nomination.
“We need an FAA administrator who will set the global gold standard for aviation safety,” Cantwell said in a statement. “At his hearing, Mr. Bedford repeatedly refused to commit to upholding the 1,500-hour rule.”
Bedford’s reticence to reinforce the 1,500-hour rule—an FAA training requirement for first officers seeking the airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate—has been a big point of contention.
Previously, the requirement for ATP certification was only 250 flight hours—the current requirement for a commercial pilot certificate. Following the Colgan Air Flight 3407 accident in 2009, which the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) attributed to pilot error, families of the victims lobbied Congress to enact stricter standards.
During a hearing earlier this month, Bedford told senators he would oppose any changes that jeopardize safety. But he would not commit to upholding the requirement. The FAA in 2022 denied a petition from Republic to exempt the airline from the rule.
“We were deeply disappointed by what we heard from Mr. Bedford at his confirmation hearing,” Scott Maurer, who lost his daughter in the Flight 3407 crash, said in a statement last week. “The fact that Mr. Bedford could not simply commit to keeping this key standard in place sends the wrong message to every American passenger and every family that has ever boarded a domestic airline flight.”
The 1,500-hour requirement has been scrutinized as an unnecessary provision that has exacerbated the pilot shortage. Bedford during a 2014 hearing called it “largely inflexible and arbitrary.” But the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) contends that aviation fatalities are down more than 99 percent since the rule took effect in 2012. ALPA—which represents nearly 80,000 pilots—estimates there were about 1,100 deaths in the passenger airline industry in the two decades prior to its implementation.
“We have concerns about the nominee’s past efforts to lower pilot training and safety standards, and we look forward to hearing his assurances that he will maintain the current requirements,” Captain Jason Ambrosi, president of ALPA, said in a statement in March.
Commitment to Safety
Ambrosi further questioned Bedford’s commitment to requiring two pilots on the flight deck for commercial operations.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is developing a pathway for extended single-pilot operations, which the ALPA president warned “would undermine aviation safety and put the U.S. at an enormous competitive disadvantage.” Bedford in written responses to senators said he supports the two-pilot “global standard” but has “not made any policy conclusions on this issue.”
“Any change to flight deck staffing must be carefully scrutinized,” he wrote. “Ensuring redundancy and pilot readiness are fundamental to safe operations, and I would approach any proposal in this area with caution.”
ALPA and other groups have pushed back on efforts to raise the pilot retirement age from 65 to 67—a proposal that nearly made it into last year’s FAA Reauthorization Act. Bedford, though, appears to support it.
“Those [who] wish to serve having an arbitrary mandatory retirement age doesn’t seem like the right answer to me,” he said during his hearing.
Bedford was noncommittal about other safety provisions, including quarterly in-person visits with manufacturers like Boeing, broader use of ADS-B In transponders, and a review of the arrival rate at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (KDCA)—the site of January’s fatal collision between an Army helicopter and passenger jet.
Cantwell criticized the airline executive’s lack of knowledge regarding a proposal to auction off radio frequencies adjacent to those used by aircraft radar altimeters, which the FAA and industry have warned could create disruptions. The senator said Bedford personally told her the move “would endanger aviation safety and pose serious risk to the flying public.” But he refused to oppose it at his hearing.
Big Shoes to Fill
If confirmed, Bedford would take the reins of an FAA in flux.
The agency is contending with scrutiny over the January collision, major workforce reductions, and staffing and equipment issues that have hampered oversight of manufacturers and the nation’s air traffic control (ATC) system.
Bedford has said he will make the latter his top priority. He indicated that he will review Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s sweeping ATC modernization plan—which calls for a range of technology upgrades over the next three years —and “identify where additional leadership or coordination” could be provided.
“The root cause of FAA’s inability to complete its mission to modernize air traffic systems and effectively manage safety is the lack of strategic vision and competent leadership,” Bedford said earlier this month.
The Republic CEO has praised recent initiatives to boost controller hiring and retention amid a nationwide shortage of more than 3,000 personnel. But President Donald Trump’s directives have triggered the departure of more than 1,000 FAA employees, including aeronautical information specialists and others who support ATC systems and staff.
The directives exempt “safety-critical” employees, and the FAA maintains the departures have “no impact” on safety. Experts question the White House’s definition of “safety-critical.” At any rate, though, the exodus reduces the agency’s workforce at a time when its oversight is being called into question. Asked if he would oppose a further reduction if he knew it would hamper key functions, Bedford declined to rule it out.
“My role would be to provide fact-based assessments of operational impacts,” he wrote. “If confirmed, I would advocate for the resources needed to meet FAA’s safety and certification responsibilities.”
The FAA Reauthorization Act tackles staffing in part by increasing diversity, such as via the Women in Aviation Advisory Committee. But Bedford appears hesitant to embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which he refused to rule out as a cause of January’s tragedy. Trump made that claim following the accident and was swiftly rebuked.
“I don’t have any earthly idea,” Bedford responded to a question about DEI’s role in the incident.
The Republic chief said he would “carefully review the Committee’s recommendations” relating to hiring more women, who comprise less than 10 percent of licensed pilots and 3 percent of aviation maintenance technicians.
“Promoting greater access…is of immense importance to me personally,” he wrote. “However, I would never allow someone who is not competent to operate an aircraft or provide access to the flight deck just because they checked a particular box.”
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