Senate confirms Bryan Bedford as FAA administrator

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: ABC News

July 9, 2025, 3:17 PM


The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Bryan Bedford as FAA administrator, putting a former airline executive in charge of the agency responsible for ensuring the safety and efficiency of the nation's air travel. The final vote was 53-43.

Bedford, who previously served as CEO of Republic Airways, retired from the position last week after leading the airline for more than 25 years. During his tenure, Republic became one of the largest regional carriers in the nation.

His nomination narrowly cleared the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation vote by 15-13, with all Republican senators voting in favor and all Democrats against.

While Bedford's nomination has received widespread support from across the aviation industry, he has faced criticism over his position on the FAA's 1,500-hour flight training rule. The FAA rule requires pilots have 1,500 hours experience in the cockpit before they can fly for a commercial airline.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senate-confirms-bryan-bedford-faa-administrator/story?id=123550778

[James48]

1. A reminder about the 1500 hour rule

It was Congress, not the FAA’s technical experts, who demanded the pilot hours be changed to 1500 hours minimum after the Colleen crash. Which, by the way, had nothing to do with 1500 hours.

In short- the only way to change the 1500 hours minimum after rule is to get Comgress to approve another number. Not likely to happen.

[InstantGratification]

2. Question:

Did Congress actually codify 1500 flight hours as the minimum? I'm relying on many years old memories so I could be wrong or things may have changed. It used to be the major US carriers requiring an Airline Transport Pilots license (ATP) for both pilot and copilot for as long as I can remember. The minimum to hold an ATP is 1500 hours. When pilot shortages made staffing difficult for airlines, I believe some airlines pushed to allow the copilot to fly with just a Commercial Pilots License as some other countries allow, which only requires 250 hours.