Bryan Bedford has been nominated to be FAA administrator.
President Donald Trump announced Monday that he has nominated airline CEO Bryan Bedford to lead the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
If confirmed, Bedford, who is currently the CEO of regional airline Republic Airways, would lead an agency facing intense public scrutiny in the aftermath of a mid-air collision near Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people. Early attention to the crash has highlighted air traffic controller staffing issues in Washington and at Air Traffic Control (ATC) facilities across the country, which are operated by the FAA.
FAA Administrators are nominated by the president, confirmed by the Senate, and report to the secretary of transportation. FAA administrators typically have extensive experience in civil aviation or public administration; a significant number have been commercial airline pilots.
Bedford joined Republic Airways—which operates regional flights on behalf of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines—as President and CEO in 1999.
“We have concerns about the nominee’s past efforts to lower pilot training and safety standards.”
In 2002, the airline under Bedford asked the FAA for an exception from federal regulations on the required number of flight hours for new pilots for graduates of its own flight school. The FAA requires 1,500 flight hours for pilots to become licensed as first officers at commercial airlines, including regional carriers. Republic requested that graduates of its own flight training academy be licensed at the 750-hour threshold required for U.S. military pilots to receive the same license.
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The FAA disagreed with various points in Republic’s petition, primarily its assertion that its internal training programs were conducted with the same rigor as the military’s training programs. The FAA also noted that the minimum flight hours were introduced by an act of Congress, suggesting a request for an exception would be less preferable than requesting an overall review of the standards as applied to all airlines by the law. Comments in favor of maintaining the requirements, including those from legislators, pilot unions, and flight schools, outnumbered comments in favor of granting an exemption.
The law in question, the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010 directed the FAA to improve the qualification thresholds for commercial pilots, largely in response to investigation findings in the deadly 2009 crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407, which investigators later linked to deficiencies in pilot training. In 2013, the FAA began requiring first officers to hold a higher rating certificate, effectively raising the experience requirement for new pilots from 250 flight hours to 1,500 flight hours.
Republic asserted that the increased experience requirement exacerbated a shortage of qualified airline pilots, increasing costs and limiting expansion opportunities across the industry. Regional airlines tend to lose veteran pilots through attrition whenever the major airlines—which offer better pay and benefits—have pilot jobs open.
“I think it’s pretty clear that the FAA never really thought that it’s their duty to make sure there’s enough pilots in the industry to support service to small-town America—that’s just not their mandate,” Bedford told Politico in 2022.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz, ranking member of the Senate Transportation Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations, and Innovation, told Politico he wasn’t familiar with Bedford, but would consider his nomination on its merits.
Airlines for America (A4A), the trade association for U.S. airlines, applauded the nomination. “President Trump made a superb choice in nominating Bryan Bedford to be FAA administrator. Mr. Bedford has decades of experience in aviation operations, and he leads with a commitment to safety above all else,” said A4A president and CEO Nicholas E. Calio. “He intimately understands the importance of a strong working relationship between the FAA and air space operators of all sizes. His leadership at Republic Airways has transformed the company into the flourishing operation it is today, supporting several of A4A’s member carriers.”
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), a labor union representing pilots at 42 U.S. and Canadian airlines, was less rosy. “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,” said Captain Jason Ambrosi, ALPA President, in a statement.
The FAA oversees safe operations of civil aviation in the United States, overseeing airlines, airports, aircraft manufacturers, air traffic control, aviation safety, and security and hazardous materials safety. The agency employs around 35,000 workers.
