▶ 0:05:59Chair Cruz: Good morning. The senate committee on commerce, science, and transportation will come to order. Today we consider the nomination of bryan bedford to be the next administrator of the faa. Mr. bedford's nomination comes at a critical moment for the faa. In january, american airlines flight -- an american airlines flight collided with a black hawk helicopter, the deadliest accident in the united states in more than 15 years.
▶ 0:06:28Chair Cruz: That accident in the air traffic control breakdowns that have occurred since laid bare the vulnerable state of the U.S. air traffic control system. The technologies are outdated. Old facilities are understaffed. Anti-systemic issues that have plagued the for decades remain unresolved. The stakes are extraordinarily high.
▶ 0:06:54Chair Cruz: If the united states does not make critical progress in the near future, other countries, both allies and adversaries, will become aerospace hubs at our expense. It is my hope that under the leadership of bryan bedford, the united states will lead the world in aerospace innovation and remain the gold standard for safety. For the last 25 years, Mr.
▶ 0:07:19Chair Cruz: Bedford has led republic airways , growing it from a fledgling regional airline to one with over $3 billion in annual revenues and more than 200 aircraft, all while maintaining a ceo, Mr. bedford launched the lift academy, the first airline owned training academy to leverage modern technologies to train better aviators.
▶ 0:07:49Chair Cruz: Lift academy has created an affordable and state-of-the-art training for both aviation mechanics and pilots. It has become a vital pipeline to address the industry's workforce shortages. As a pilot, Mr. bedford understands how important it is for apartments to go through rigorous training, both with real-world and simulated five-time, which is the best way to prepare for severe weather and extreme situations.
▶ 0:08:18Chair Cruz: 1500 hours of mindless batter towing is no way to train a commercial pilot. Mr. bedford did all of this while raising nine children along with his wife. And I will say in that he shares the nine children with the great supreme court justice antonin scalia. And so I expect similar great things from Mr. bedford. The faa is sorely in need of steady leadership.
▶ 0:08:50Chair Cruz: No senate confirmed head of the agency has completed a full five-year term since 2018. Looking forward, the faa faces numerous challenges. It needs help to get boeing back on track. The faa will have to integrate new aviation technologies like drones, in air taxis, and commercial space launches. And it must accelerate the advancement of air traffic control.
▶ 0:09:17Chair Cruz: Last week, this committee released the commerce title of the senate reconciliation bill. We will provide the faa with more than $12 billion, a historic investment, to improve poor infrastructure and to deploy better technology. Poor management over many decades has left congress with no choice. I have high expectations for transparency.
▶ 0:09:44Chair Cruz: And this committee intends to hold both the department of transportation and the faa accountable for implementing the improvements responsibly and promptly. I look forward to hearing how Mr. bedford will ensure that the faa is equipped to meet this moment and to bring the U.S. aviation system into the modern era.
▶ 0:10:06Chair Cruz: I look forward to hearing also how under his leadership we will modernize air traffic control to keep the flying public safe, which is the principal and the core responsibility of the faa. I now turn to ranking member cantwell for her opening statement.
▶ 0:10:21Sen. Cantwell: Thank you, Mr. chairman. Congratulations on your nomination, Mr. bedford. Welcome to your family and their willingness to help in this larger effort. Before I begin, I want to recognize the members of families who are here from flight 3407. They have been a constant source of aviation safety focus.
▶ 0:10:44Sen. Cantwell: And I want to recognize tim and sherry lily who lost their son in the january american dca collision. Thank you for being here and your focus on safety. It is important we have an faa administrator who strengthens our aviation standards to honor the families who lost loved ones in these tragic accidents. The position is what was in norma's responsibility.
▶ 0:11:11Sen. Cantwell: Every day, the faa managers around 45,000 flights, ensuring the safety of over 2.9 million commercial airline passengers the agency's fundamental mission is safety, ensuring the united states maintains the world's safety aviation system.
▶ 0:11:31Sen. Cantwell: The tragic midair collision in january took the lives of 67 people and is a stark reminder what happens when the system fails. These failures underscore why we must have an administrator who is an unwavering champion for safety, to strengthen safety standards rather than seeking a way around them . Your nomination does not come in a vacuum.
▶ 0:12:02Sen. Cantwell: The committee has heard from other trump administration officials. I can assure you we need a hands-on approach, not a hands-off approach. We don't need someone changing the standards just because they think they can lower costs.
▶ 0:12:22Sen. Cantwell: As multiple high-profile aviation incidents have shown us, prioritizing efficiency over safety leads to higher costs instead of doing the right thing the first time. So simply put, we need an administrator that my colleague and I agree on helps us get to the gold standard of the united states of america. Someone not looking for shortcuts but looking to restore this for the U.S.
▶ 0:12:50Sen. Cantwell: Congress passed the faa reauthorization bill with overwhelming bipartisan support to strengthen safety, modernize our air traffic control system, and build a qualified workforce. We require the faa to mandate 25 hour cockpit voice recorders, overall helicopter safety regulations, requiring maintenance stations to meet the same safety standards we have in the U.S., and the law authorized $17 billion for critical air traffic control technology equipment
▶ 0:13:20Sen. Cantwell: Upgrades. Given that, secretary duffy's plans to build off of the faa law. I am very interested to learn how you plan to implement that vision. While upgrading the system is encouraging, recent our duties -- recent outages in newark show we need an all hands on deck approach. We are experiencing a serious loss of talent at the faa so I certainly don't agree with the administration's cutting of faa officials.
▶ 0:13:51Sen. Cantwell: Senior faa leaders are leaving and the faa has lost 3% of its workforce. I firmly believe in the next aviation mission, which is the thermoplastic composites that both commercial aviation will use that will make production go from 40 planes a month to 100 planes a month. We need it for space, and we absolutely need it for national defense security.
▶ 0:14:17Sen. Cantwell: So I hope the faa can fill both of these roles of safety and the future of aviation implementation. I look forward to hearing how you can fulfill these missions, and we want to know what you are going to do to strengthen the oversight of safety both here in the U.S. and internationally. The united states needs to advocate for the highest safety standards on an international basis as well.
▶ 0:14:43Sen. Cantwell: You spent an entire career in the airline industry, so we know you know the aviation business at the public airways. I do have concerns about the long opposition to the faa's 1500 hour rule finalized in 2013.
▶ 0:15:02Sen. Cantwell: You said that the rule "does nothing to further the goal of increased flight safety." since the 1500 hour rule and the reforms that took place, fatalities have been reduced by 99% in the last 11 years. So I am sure I will ask you for the record what you think about the 1500 hour rule and what we need to do to continue the exemplary investment in aviation safety.
▶ 0:15:32Sen. Cantwell: The dca collision exposed multiple safety failures including the army black hawk helicopter not transmitting enhanced adsb technology, unsafe flight routes, mixed traffic dca, and the lack of faa and department of defense coordination.
▶ 0:15:49Sen. Cantwell: That is why I introduced with my colleague senators legislation to ensure that the faa has an effective agencywide safety management system to prioritize the reviews of airports and high-volume traffic. So I look forward to asking you about how you plan to strengthen this particular area of faa oversight.
▶ 0:16:14Sen. Cantwell: So congress has clearly prescribed a very proactive approach for the faa oversight, not reactive. So this is the path forward. A stronger, more effective faa. I look forward to discussing these issues with you. And again, congratulations on your nomination.
▶ 0:16:31Chair Cruz: Thank you. I will now turn to our calling from indiana, senator young, to introduce Mr. bedford.
▶ 0:16:38Sen. Young: Thank you. Members of the committee, I am grateful to introduce my friend brian bedford to this committee -- my friend bryan bedford to this committee. Critical infrastructure is aging or already outdated. Many of our control towers are four decades old.
▶ 0:17:06Sen. Young: Our average air traffic air route traffic control centers were built over a half-century ago. The aviation systems are untenable in the long-term. The faa workforce in safety critical positions, none of which were eliminated as part of the recent resignation program, is understaffed and overworked, leading to potentially dangerous burnout.
▶ 0:17:37Sen. Young: Modernization of america's aviation system is overdue. Secretary duffy has introduced a plan to provide much needed upgrades to not only strengthen the safety of but also improve the efficiency of our air traffic control system. And bryan bedford is exactly the type of innovative leader to implement these much-needed reforms. He is the administrator the faa needs now. I say this not only because of his indiana connections, though those help in my book.
▶ 0:18:08Sen. Young: He has been a resident for the past 26 years, and being a hoosier is itself a recommendation. I say this because of his demonstrated leadership in the aviation industry. Bryan took over republic airways after september 11, 2001, a time when the industry faced tremendous challenges, decreasing profits, reduced demand for commercial flights, and the urgent need for significant security overhauls.
▶ 0:18:36Sen. Young: He guided republic through this challenging landscape, turned the company around, increased its annual revenue from $85 million to $3 billion, grew its lead from 27 propeller crafts to 250 jets. He has not only overseeing successful mergers with other carriers but also partnered with american, delta, and united airlines from whom republic runs regional routes.