Bryan Bedford, President Trump’s decide to go the Federal Aviation Administration, is reportedly not licensed to pilot a aircraft commercially as he has claimed.
Whereas the biography of the president and CEO of regional Republic Airways as soon as said he “holds commercial, multi-engine and instrument pilot ratings,” a Politico survey of FAA data discovered no reference to a business license, the outlet reported Sunday. The phrase “commercial” disappeared Friday, the day after Politico questioned the corporate.
“Bryan never misrepresented his credential; it was an administrative error that was immediately corrected,” the U.S. Division of Transportation advised Politico in an announcement.
Bedford, whom Trump tapped in March, was grilled by Congress final week on various safety-related points. Most notable was a so-called under-1,500 rule that requires aspiring pilots to log 1,500 hours of flying time to earn business certification as an air transport pilot.
In 2022, Republic, which Bedford has helmed since 1999, requested that be halved to 750 hours, which the FAA denied. Bedford advised Congress in final week’s listening to he’s dedicated to growing security requirements by modernizing the air site visitors management system and hiring extra controllers — however refused to let Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, pin him down on the 1,500 rule.
The 1,500 rule was carried out after 50 individuals died in a 2009 Buffalo, N.Y., aircraft crash that the Nationwide Transportation Security Board attributed to a mixture of pilot error and the primary officer’s inexperience. American aviation has been plagued with a number of tragedies this yr, beginning with the deadly midair collision between American Airways Flight 5432 and a army Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, D.C., during which 67 individuals died.
The Air Line Pilots Affiliation Worldwide, which represents pilots from 42 U.S. and Canadian airways, is cautious of fixing security requirements. Earlier than the Buffalo crash, an aspiring pilot wanted 250 hours of flight time for business certification. Passenger fatalities have fallen by 99.8% because the rule was carried out, ALPA president Capt. Jason Ambrosi advised the U.S. Home Aviation Subcommittee in April, including: “This is the wrong time to consider changing rules and rolling back safety regulations.”
Initially Revealed: June 15, 2025 at 8:20 PM EDT
