President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Aviation Administration has long claimed to have a commercial pilot’s license – but new reports suggest otherwise.
Bryan Bedford, the CEO of Republic Airways, was listed on the airline’s website as holding “commercial, multi-engine and instrument pilot ratings” until Thursday, but after his credentials came under question, the word “commercial,” was removed from the description on Friday, Politico reported.
Records obtained by Politico revealed that Bedford does not have a commercial pilot’s license registered with the FAA – though he has claimed to since at least 2010, according to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.
While he does not have a commercial license, Bedford is a licensed private pilot, according to FAA records viewed by Politico.
Bedford passed “written and oral exams” in order to fly commercial aircraft, the Department of Transportation said, before claiming Bedford had not “personally nor publicly claimed to be a commercial airline pilot.”
“Bryan never misrepresented his credential; it was an administrative error that was immediately corrected,” DOT said in a statement.
His pilot credentials have been called into question previously, including in reporting by aviation news outlet The Air Current, with the publication writing, “Bedford is a pilot himself, although not a commercial pilot, as he has sometimes claimed to be.”
Bedford also faced questioning last week from the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee as part of the nomination process. During the questioning, Bedford faced harsh critiques over his lack of an answer when asked if he would scrap the FAA’s rule that people seeking to become airline pilots log at least 1,500 of flight time.
“It doesn’t sound like a yes,” Rep. Tammy Duckworth said. “It sounds like you’re leaving the door open to reduce the number of flight hours below 1,500.”
Bedford responded: “What I’m saying is I don’t believe safety is static.”
No one mentioned his credentials, according to Politico.
His nomination comes amid calls for a renewed interest in safety concerns at the agency following a deadly mid-air collision near Washington D.C.’s Reagan National Airport in January that killed 67 people.
