Update on June 25: Senator Maria Cantwell—and all of the committee Democrats—voted against Bryan Bedford's nomination in the confirmation hearing on June 25. However, all Republican committee members voted for Bedford, and his confirmation was passed by a narrow margin of 15-13 votes. His nomination will now be moved to a floor vote in the general Senate.
Federal lawmakers and other prominent voices in aviation safety are opposing the nomination of Bryan Bedford for FAA administrator.
U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) have both announced that they will oppose Bedford’s nomination in the confirmation vote scheduled for June 25. Sen. Cantwell is the ranking Democratic member on the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which is responsible for confirming the FAA administrator.
Bedford is the current CEO of regional airline Republic Airways and was nominated by President Trump in March to lead the agency, which oversees all civil aviation in the United States.
During Bedford’s recent nomination hearings with the U.S. Senate, lawmakers have shared concerns over the airline executive’s stances on aviation safety. One key issue is the so-called “1,500-hour rule,” which requires all pilots to have at least 1,500 hours of flight training before operating a commercial aircraft.
In his role as Republic Airways CEO, Bedford advocated to shorten the 1,500-hour rule for the airline’s pilots. In 2022, Bedford asked the FAA to shorten the requirement, arguing in a filing that Republic Airways trainees only needed 750 hours of flight time to become first officers, according to information from the office of Sen. Duckworth, who also sits on the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. The FAA rejected Bedford’s request because it didn’t provide an adequate level of safety.
When asked during his nomination hearing whether he would uphold the 1,500-hour rule as FAA administrator, Bedford didn’t give a clear commitment to the regulation.
“At his hearing, Mr. Bedford repeatedly refused to commit to upholding the 1500-hour rule and refused to recuse himself for his full term from granting his own company an exemption from this critical safety requirement,” Sen. Cantwell said. “These are not the strong responses we need from someone who would oversee the safety of more than 2.9 million daily passengers.”
At the hearing earlier in June, Sen. Duckworth also pressed Bedford on the 1,500-hour rule and was dissatisfied with his lack of clear answer. “Now is not the time for less actual cockpit time for pilots,” Sen. Duckworth said. “This is a perilous moment for aviation safety. Well-trained pilots are our last line of defense. In incident after incident, it has been the pilots who have made last-second decisions to avert disaster.”
Aside from U.S. senators, other aviation experts are sounding the alarm over Beford’s tepid stance on crucial safety matters. Captain Sully Sullenberger, the pilot who performed the emergency landing known as the “Miracle on the Hudson,” spoke out against Bedford’s nomination on Monday. “Aviation Safety has been my life's work,” Sullenberger said. “But with the nomination of Bryan Bedford to be FAA Administrator, my life's work could be undone.”
Sullenberger noted that if the 1,500-hour rule is shortened, pilots who climb into a commercial cockpit wouldn’t be sufficiently seasoned. “[L]iterally, not having experienced flying in all the seasons of the year, the crosswinds of spring, the thunderstorms of summer, the frost and fog of fall and the ice and snow of winter,” he said. “The first time a pilot experiences real weather should not be with paying passengers onboard, unwitting and unwilling guinea pigs.”
The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will vote on Bedford’s nomination at 10 a.m. ET on June 25, and the hearing will be livestreamed on the committee’s website.
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