WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump鈥檚 pick to lead the Federal Aviation Administration pledged to prioritize safety and during a Wednesday hearing with the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
Bryan Bedford faced tough questions in the confirmation hearing, which follows January's in Washington, D.C., and a and near misses since then.
Much of the industry, including the major airlines and their trade groups, supports Bedford鈥檚 nomination. But pilots unions and Democrats have raised concerns that he might weaken pilot training standards. Bedford has been CEO of regional airline Republic Airways since 1999 and has more than three decades of experience in the industry.
鈥淲e shouldn鈥檛 have to lean into the second or third or fourth level of redundancy to keep the system moving. The system is old. It needs upgraded, massive upgrading. So we have to do better,鈥� Bedford said during the hearing. But he said the $12.5 billion that House Republicans have included in Trump鈥檚 massive bill is only a down payment on the upgrades.
The National Transportation Safety Board has said the FAA should have acted before January's crash because there had been reported around Ronald Reagan National Airport in the years before the disaster. The FAA has since to make sure helicopters and planes no longer share the same airspace, but there have still been in recent months.
FAA鈥檚 acting administrator and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy the FAA鈥檚 shortcomings in not recognizing the risk and pledged to review all the agency鈥檚 data to identify any similar concerns nationwide about helicopter traffic near airports. That review prompted the agency to put new limits on helicopter flights around
The air traffic controllers union backed Bedford鈥檚 nomination because of his support for the effort to modernize the and bolster controller hiring. Two different this spring in a facility that directs planes in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport highlighted the problems because the FAA had to at the airport after five controllers took trauma leave after the problems.
Pilots鈥� unions and Democrats have raised concerns that Bedford may support weakening the 1,500-hour experience standard for airline pilots that was adopted after a or even might consider allowing some airlines to operate with only one pilot. Republic previously asked for permission to hire pilots with less experience because the standard was making it hard to find enough pilots. Families of the victims of that 2009 Colgan Air crash and the D.C. crash attended the hearing.
鈥淧eople are going to want to know ... whether you鈥檙e going to lead any effort to change that rule,鈥� Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell said. She asked for a firm written answer because 鈥測ou helped fund and lobbied for a change for it.鈥�
Bedford refused to commit to maintaining the 1,500-hour rule during questioning from Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois.
鈥淲hat I鈥檓 saying is I don鈥檛 believe safety is static,鈥� Bedford said as he talked about how the military has changed pilot training to use more technology. Later, he said, 鈥淚 can commit to you that we will not have anything that will reduce safety.鈥�
Bedford said even if European officials have had some conversations about possibly allowing only one pilot under some circumstances, America is 鈥渁 long ways away鈥� from ever considering it. He said that's the case even as some companies are developing new technology that might be able to land a plane.
鈥淚 do think that there are ways we can absolutely use technology to improve aviation safety," Bedford said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it goes so far as to tell us we need to remove a trained aviator from cockpit.鈥�
Bedford acknowledged Wednesday that 鈥減roblems persist and more work needs to be done鈥� to ensure the safety of flying around the nation鈥檚 capital. He said his own airline鈥檚 planes have received at least three alarms about conflicting traffic around Reagan since January.
Bedford said his priority is modernizing the air traffic control system, and he reiterated that there is no plan to privatize the system because a debate over privatization derailed Trump鈥檚 previous effort to upgrade the system in his first term.
If confirmed, Bedford will also lead the FAA鈥檚 effort to incorporate drones and flying taxis into the nation鈥檚 airspace safely. Trump signed last week to encourage development of that emerging technology.
Leah Askarinam And Josh Funk, The Associated Press
