Bryan Bedford, nominated for permanent FAA Administrator, met with the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation today. If the committee agrees to proceed with the nomination, it will go forward to the full Senate to vote on confirmation. In play is administering the $12 billion budget allocated for modernizing the FAA and upgrading the National Airspace System.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, made the opening remarks at the committee session. He cited Bedford’s credentials as an ATP-rated pilot and his experience at the helm of several airlines. Sen. Cruz said, “The FAA is sorely in need of his steady leadership. No Senate-confirmed head of the agency has completed a full five-year term since 2018. I have high expectations for transparency and intend to hold the Department of Transportation and the FAA accountable for implementing the improvements responsibly and promptly.”
National Business Aviation Association President and CEO Ed Bolen said, “Bryan Bedford’s organizational leadership, aviation expertise, and proven track record of innovation make him an outstanding choice to lead the FAA, especially in this moment, which requires strategic planning and action on the industry’s shared goal of building a brand-new air traffic control system. We urge the committee to approve his nomination, and the Senate to swiftly confirm him so that a permanent leader is in place at the FAA to provide a sharp, consistent focus on the important work ahead.”
I worked for Mr. Bedford at Republic, very good choice, he will do a Great Job!
I’m sure he would like to, but an absolutely thankless and impossible task. He’s in position to catch all the flack, and then get fired. ATC needs to be a separate part of FAA. There’s plenty to work on throughout the system, too much detail for that one man to monitor or fix. Too much focus on ATC. Split it off and give it to him.
“A proven track record of innovation “‘ at Republic Airlines? How about a couple of examples.
Former FAA Administrator David Hinson came from a similar background but the politics that drive the FAA ignores experience and common sense.
Bedford tried to get a compromise on the 1500 hour rule by crediting more and better simulator training towards the requirements to be a commercial pilot. The FAA shut him down. He will only be effective if he can change the mindset of the FAA to get out of the failed attitudes of the past and embrace the changes in training and technology that come with the 21st Century. Commercial pilots need to know how to make sound decisions and say “no” more than they need to know about carburetor ice or negative dynamic stability.
He will do a great job if as soon as he takes office he complies with his mandatory duty in accordance with FAA personnel regulation, “Merit Principles”, which states, “The Administrator SHALL take any action, including the issuance of rules, regulations, or directives”, to issue a “corrective directive” to Human Resources and the Air Traffic Organization to RE-DETERMINE the 3-year distribution of $200 million in pay raises among Air Traffic Controllers by correcting the violation of “Merit Principles” committed against the 165 Air Traffic Controllers who were in the FOURTH year of the 4-year program to contract out the Level One control towers at small airports, where FAA controllers moved to higher-level FAA facilities and were replaced by contract controllers at the Level One towers, where only the FOURTH-YEAR controllers were DELAYED in contracting out and moving to our higher-level FAA facilities by 14 months, to pay us AS IF we had moved as originally scheduled to our higher-level FAA facilities, which it has been discovered by Freedom of Information Act request would give us higher-percentage raises to BASE pay in ALL THREE YEARS of the distribution, which would not have cost the FAA any additional money, it would have only resulted in a different distribution of the $200 million, PREVENTING the ILLEGAL overpayments from being made to the other 14,675 controllers at the time. The overpayments began in October, 2000, and only ended at date of retirement, with overpayments now totaling approximately $31 MILLION. If not for retirements since October, 2000, the overpayments would have totaled approximately $37 MILLION. There is no statute of limitation for recovery of overpayments made to Federal employees. However, most of the 165 were only cheated on a temporary basis, and are only owed approximately $7 million, therefore, the FAA would GAIN approximately $24 million in the correction, which can be used to hire more Air Traffic Controllers. The $31 million can be recovered over a one-year period by deductions from their pay and/or retirement income, which will have a negligible impact to them on a per-paycheck or per-month basis for the ONE YEAR.
I would think 91 times before taking the helm of the FAA (or any federal admin position) in our current environment. Subject matter competence appears to be overrated these days.
And no. That applies to whichever party is holding the magic sword. Our intellectual imbeciles will cook and grill you, no matter what and the salary is not sufficient to reimburse for being summoned to testify in front of a bunch of crooks in congress…
How is it possible to miss the "Truth " in the second paragraph …?