WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Donald Trump has nominated longtime airline CEO Bryan Bedford to lead the Federal Aviation Administration to steer the agency through an air traffic controller shortage and increased scrutiny of its safety procedures after a series of crashes and near-misses.
Bedford has been the president and CEO at Republic Airways, which runs flights for the three biggest airlines, since 1999.
Trump announced his selection in a post on his social media website Tuesday evening and praised Bedford’s leadership and highlighted his decades of experience working in the aviation industry.
“Bryan will work with our GREAT Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, to strongly reform the Agency, safeguard our exports, and ensure the safety of nearly one billion annual passenger movements,” Trump wrote.
The FAA has been operating without a confirmed head since Trump took office in January, when former administrator Mike Whitaker resigned a year into his five-year term. Trump named Chris Rocheleau as acting administrator in the interim.
Airlines and trade groups were receptive to Bedford’s nomination to the post.
“He intimately understands the importance of a strong working relationship between the FAA and air space operators of all sizes,” Nicholas E. Calio, President and CEO of Airlines for America, said in a statement. “We know Mr. Bedford will work closely with Secretary Duffy to transform America’s aging air traffic control systems, including technology, infrastructure and staffing. We urge the Senate to expeditiously confirm his nomination.”
It wasn’t immediately clear when Bedford’s nomination will be taken up in the Senate or when his confirmation hearing would be scheduled.
If confirmed, Bedford will take over an agency facing several major issues — a longstanding shortage of air traffic controllers, repeated delays in the implementation of air safety systems and getting Boeing back on track after quality control concerns and delays in deliveries have sparked a public confidence crisis in the iconic manufacturer.
“Given the spate of incidents and accidents that have happened recently, there certainly is a lot of pressure on the FAA to make sure that air travel remains safe,” said Dan Bubb, an associate professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Honors College, and former airline pilot. “He has some pressure on him to make sure that the FAA does what it’s supposed to do.”
The agency is also still dealing with the investigation and fallout from a collision between a regional jet and Army helicopter near Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington that killed 67 people, the deadliest airline disaster in the U.S. since 2009.
The FAA is short of thousands air traffic controllers nationwide and has been trying to boost recruitment and retention to address the staffing shortages that have been caused by long hours, uncompetitive pay and intensive training. It has been ramping up hiring goals and the Trump administration announced an initiative to “supercharge” the process earlier this year after the crash in Washington.
He will also take over the effort to upgrade the United States’ aging and outdated safety infrastructure system that has been delayed repeatedly with issues building the technology and budget cuts that have limited progress. The helicopter crash sparked renewed urgency to address the outdated system, with Trump promising to work with Congress to modernize it and tasking the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency to make upgrades to the existing system.
The Next Generation Air Transportation System, or NextGen, was approved by Congress more than two decades ago with the goal of allowing airlines to operate more flights, improve safety and increase efficiency. The FAA released its initial plan in 2004 and said last year that it was expected to be completed by 2025, which has since been delayed to 2030.
Government watchdogs have warned for years that air safety systems are in desperate need of upgrades. A Government Accountability Office report released in 2024 found 51 of the FAA’s 138 air traffic controller systems were unsustainable, along with another 54 that were deemed potentially unsustainable.
“Bedford is going to have a big responsibility as a head of the FAA working with air traffic control, operators, no matter wherever they are,” Bubb said. “I hope he will have the resources that he needs, and then I think that will put the FAA on really solid footing with everybody.”
The other major mission Bedford will oversee is getting Boeing back on track after a series of issues with quality control at its production plans that came under intense scrutiny after a door panel blew out of a 737 Max during flight. Much of the blame for the problems with Boeing have been placed on the company but the FAA has also been criticized for allowing its oversight to become too lax.