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Takeaways
- The Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA) has expressed “concerns” about President Donald Trump’s nominee for Federal Aviation Administration administrator, Bryan Bedford. (ALPA) said that it has "concerns" about President Donald Trump's nominee for Federal Aviation Administration administrator, Bryan Bedford.
- Bedford is the CEO at regional airline Republic Airways. During a global shortage of pilots in 2022, Bedford unsuccessfully proposed to the FAA that the FAA lower the required number of hours to become a copilot from 1,500.
- "We have concerns about the nominee's past efforts to lower pilot training and safety standards and we look forward to hearing his assurances that he will maintain the current requirements," ALPA said.
Airline pilots are not pleased with President Donald Trump's choice to head the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l (ALPA), which represents more than 79,000 pilots at 42 U.S. and Canadian airlines, said Tuesday that it has "concerns" about Trump's nominee to be FAA administrator, Republic Airways CEO Bryan Bedford.
Republic Airways, based out of Indianapolis, operates regional services on behalf United Airlines (UAL), Delta Air Lines DAL (DAL) and American Airlines AAL (AAL). In response to a projected global shortage of pilots in 2022, Republic suggested that the FAA reduce the number required for a copilot from 1,500 to 750 hours. The agency rejected this proposal, which pleased ALPA.
“We have concerns about the nominee’s past efforts to lower pilot training and safety standards and we look forward to hearing his assurances that he will maintain the current requirements,” ALPA said.
Airline Pilots Unions 'Are Huge Fans of the 1,500-Hour Rule'
Ben Schlappig, of the travel website One Mile at a Time, says that it’s not surprising that unions representing airline captains are big fans of the 1,500 hour rule.
Schlappig wrote in a Wednesday post that “by keeping the requirements so high, we have limited the pilot pipeline and allowed pilots to negotiate incredible increases in pay.”
Bedford must be confirmed as FAA Administrator by the U.S. Senate.
