Bryan Bedford Speaks With EAA President Jack Pelton at AirVenture

For the first time wearing the FAA Administrator title, former Republic CEO Bryan Bedford made his rounds at the 2025 EAA Oshkosh AirVenture. The newly-minted agency head had a lot to say during his ‘Meet the Admin’ brief with Jack Pelton… though as expected, most of it was much ado about nothing.

The meeting began with an anticipated refresher of Bedford’s industry experience: leadership at several regional carriers, including Business Express, Mesaba Holdings, and Republic Airways, multiple Airline Executive of the Year honors, a private pilot license with an instrument rating, and the role of chairman for the Regional Airline Association. He has spent the last 35 years learning the ins and outs of aviation… and sharing some controversial thoughts about its future.

The primary point of concern arises from Bedford’s previous criticism of the 1,500-hour rule. He has suggested cutting the requirement down to 750 hours for graduates of LIFT Academy, which he launched during his time in charge of Republic Airways. Pilots, including Captain Sully Sullenberger, have expressed that Bedford’s leadership could jeopardize airline safety.

Despite some public apprehension, Senators confirmed Bedford’s nomination on July 9 in a near party-line 53-43 vote.

With him only being in the role for a little over a week at the time, expectations for Bedford’s AirVenture Meet the Admin session were low. However, many were hoping for a little deeper explanation of his priorities moving forward, especially regarding topics like ATC staffing, the future of MOSAIC, urban air mobility integration, supersonic flight, and the status of BVLOS.

Bedford did make a point of addressing the agency’s ambition to modernize: “It’s hard to believe that our NAS is essentially an analog design that really hasn’t seen modernization in over 40 years. It’s just not acceptable.” He continued to explain that the effort falls under three key groups: getting the National Airspace System staffed and trained, updating its technology, and rethinking its design.

“We haven’t had airspace redesign since 1993,” Bedford noted. “The demands on the NAS have continued to grow and are growing at rates, frankly, that we are playing catch up on.”

And, while specifics were lacking, the administrator seemed ready to face the challenges that expanding and reshaping the future of aviation brings.

“We want to unleash opportunity and unleash innovation. We just want to make sure we’re doing it in the safest way possible,” he said.

FMI: www.faa.gov