US lawmakers confirmed that longtime regional airline executive Brian Bedford has been appointed head of the Federal Aviation Administration and accused him of surveillance by US civil aviation regulators at a time when a focus was on aviation safety.
The US Senator confirmed he was appointed on the July 9th Bedford 53-43 vote, and opposed to leading the FAA from Democrats who cited Bedford's history in defending training laws with fewer pilot training laws to address the US pilot shortage.
Before resigning from his position last week, Bedford had been working since 1999 as chief executive officer of Indiana-based Republic Airlines. It is flying on behalf of the US network carriers of the Big 3, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.
Now he begins a five-year appointment leading the agency of around 45,000 workers. Bedford will replace acting FAA administrator Chris Rochero, who led the agency on a brink after President Joe Biden's Pick Michael Whitaker resigned at the January 20 inauguration ceremony.
Bedford is facing the major task of upgrading air traffic control (ATC) systems across the country, with funds approved last week as part of Trump's “one big beautiful bill.” Lawmakers and industry leaders have been pushing for years to upgrade US creakable ATC systems that rely on decades-old technology, and have recently suffered from several well-known radar and communication failures.
The bill allocates $12.5 billion from the US government's 2025 budget to “acquire, build, maintain and improve the facilities and equipment needed to improve or maintain aviation safety.” Transport Secretary Sean Duffy has previously sought further funding for the ATC overhaul, with a total target of $30 billion.
Bedford will also oversee the planned deployment of the burgeoning advanced aviation mobility sector, which proposes to prove and commercialize new classes of electric and hybrid electric aviation taxis in the second half of the decade.
His confirmation has been welcomed by industry groups such as the Americas (A4A), the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), and the Regional Aviation Association (RAA).
NBAA CEO Ed Bollen said Bedford's “strategic thinking, extensive leadership experience and a consistent focus on safety will guide agencies and industries to cooperate in developing a robust and resilient ATC network.”
Meanwhile, the RAA says Bedford is demonstrating its commitment to “upgrade the staffing of the reinforced controllers of the aging air traffic control system (and)”.
“Bedford is well versed in the unique and important role that local airlines play in safely connecting communities of all sizes, and has a deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing the aviation sector,” says RAA.
However, some lawmakers have criticized his track record in pilot training. Democrat Sen. Maria Cantwell, a ranking member of the Senate's Commerce and Transport Committee, said the FAA “cannot have an approach that appears to be a light-hearted approach to aviation safety.”
“Bedford's willingness to change safety policies, such as reducing pilot training times and considering single pilot cockpits, is the opposite of the aggressive surveillance that agents need at this time,” Cantwell says.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer characterized Bedford as a “deeply flawed candidate” for Trump, adding that Bedford “failed to show that it places airline passenger safety above airline interests.”
A January 29 airborne collision between the US Army Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk and PSA airline MHIRJ CRJ700 regional jet has hit the US fierce spotlight in the air safety, with its final approach to Reagan National Airport near Washington, DC.
The accident killed all 67 people on both aircraft, raising attention to the FAA's long-term ATC shortage of staffing issues.
In the months since the collision, repeated breakdowns of ATC equipment, particularly at Newar Liberty International Airport, increased calls to address US aging aviation safety technology.
