Bryan Bedford was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday to lead the FAA as its new administrator.
Bedford, a longtime airline executive, steps into an agency that is mired in controversy, as a number of recent incidents have called its credibility into question. In January, a midair collision between a commercial jet and an Army Black Hawk near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (KDCA) resulted in the deaths of all on board both aircraft.
Months later, communication equipment failures at Newark Liberty International (KEWR) resulted in flight cancellations and delays at one of the nation’s biggest airports, prompting a number of air traffic controllers (ATCs) to take trauma leave.
In both instances, aging infrastructure and ATC staffing shortages were cited as potential causes.
Last week, as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Congress allocated $12.5 billion to the FAA, with over half of the funds dedicated to ATC telecommunications infrastructure and radar system upgrades. Bedford will oversee the implementation of these funds, which will be made as a “down payment” to the agency.
When asked what problems he saw presently facing the FAA during his confirmation process, Bedford said in his belief, a culture of stagnation had taken root.
“There appears to be no incentive for anyone at the FAA to take any innovation risk for fear that it could fail,” he wrote in response to a Senate questionnaire. “You could say there was an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ attitude, but that has morphed into a quiet resignation that we ‘can’t fix it, but we can do our very best to make the system work safely today’ mindset. Ensuring the safety and the modernization of our air traffic control (ATC) system is too critical to continue down the same path.”
Despite support from a number of industry partners and organizations, Bedford was confirmed along party lines. Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire was the lone Democrat voting for his advancement, highlighting how Bedford’s pessimism regarding a number of long-standing FAA safety regulations caused the Democrats to sour on him throughout the hearing process.
The largest point of contention revolved around Bedford’s noncommittal stance toward the “1,500-hour rule,” which states that pilots must have logged 1,500 hours of flight time before they can gain a position as a first officer with an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) license.
In addition to leaving the door open to a rule change, Bedford had previously expressed his discontent with it during his time as CEO of Republic Airways, calling it “largely inflexible and arbitrary” during a 2014 hearing.
In 2022, the FAA denied a petition from Republic Airways that would have allowed graduates of its in-house flight school to apply for an ATP with only 750 logged hours, under Bedford’s leadership.
“Throughout his career as an airline executive, and during his hearing, Mr. Bedford has shown a callous disregard for the 1,500-hour rule—and even refused to commit to protecting the rule if confirmed,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. “I fear that is precisely what Mr. Bedford will do: weaken the 1,500-hour rule, weaken safety standards, and prioritize profits over passenger safety.”
FAA administrators are confirmed to five-year terms. Along with taking over the reins of an agency that is under immense pressure to enact deep structural reforms, Bedford is looking to provide stability to an organization that hasn’t seen an administrator serve a full term since Michael Huerta from 2013-18.
