Duckworth Votes Against Bryan Bedford’s Nomination to Serve as FAA Administrator
Bedford’s refusal to commit to protecting 1,500-hour pilot training standards that help keep the flying public safe raises serious, and unanswered, questions
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation—voted against Bryan Bedford’s nomination to serve as FAA Administrator. Senate Republicans confirmed Bedford by a vote of 53-43.
“At this critical moment for aviation safety, it is deeply disturbing that Senate Republicans just confirmed someone who refused to commit to upholding the 1,500-hour pilot training requirement. With a surge in near-misses, an air traffic controller shortage, aging air traffic control equipment and facilities—and in the wake of the first major deadly commercial crash in more than a decade, now is clearly not the time to weaken flight hour requirements for our nation’s aspiring airline pilots.
“Incident after incident, it has been pilots who have made last second decisions to avert disaster. Well-trained pilots are our last line of defense, and I could not vote for a nominee who as a corporate executive prioritized—and gained notoriety for—his failed effort to convince the FAA to exempt him from the 1,500-hour rule and let him hire less experienced pilots.
“Americans do not want less-trained, less-prepared pilots in the cockpit flying their planes. As he assumes this important role, Mr. Bedford must abandon any plan to weaken our gold standard in pilot training and put the safety of the flying public first.”
In light of Bedford’s previous comments and actions against the 1,500-hour rule, Duckworth underscored at his nomination hearing that he would unilaterally attempt to weaken this standard and produce less-prepared pilots despite the serious challenges our nation is facing with regard to aviation safety. When Duckworth asked Mr. Bedford for his commitment to not reduce the 1,500-hour rule if confirmed, Mr. Bedford refused to commit.
In 2022, while Bedford was CEO of Republic Airways, the airline asked the FAA for an exemption to the 1,500-hour requirement for graduates from the airline’s training academy. The airline argued its graduates needed only 750 hours of flight time to become first officers, but FAA rejected the application, finding it did not provide an equivalent level of safety.
The families of the Colgan Air Flight 3407 crash also announced their opposition to Bedford’s nomination.
For years before the deadly DCA crash, Duckworth has been sounding the alarm that we must make critical aviation safety investments to prevent all-too-often near-misses from becoming catastrophic tragedies. Last Congress, Duckworth chaired two CST Aviation Subcommittee hearings—one last December and the other a year prior—to address our aviation industry’s chilling surge in near-deadly close calls and underscore the urgent need to improve air traffic control systems to protect the flying public.
Duckworth helped author the landmark bipartisan FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 that was signed into law last year and included several of her provisions to safeguard the 1,500-hour rule, improve safety, expand the aviation workforce and enhance protections for travelers with disabilities.
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