Trump's FAA administrator pick questioned about safety and pilot training standards at hearing

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Aviation Administration pledged to prioritize safety and upgrade the nation's outdated air traffic control system during a Wednesday hearing with the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

Bryan Bedford faced tough questions in the confirmation hearing, which follows January's deadly midair collision in Washington, D.C., and a string of other crashes and near misses since then.

Much of the industry, including the major airlines and their trade groups, supports Bedford’s nomination. But pilots unions and Democrats have raised concerns that he might weaken pilot training standards. Bedford has been CEO of regional airline Republic Airways since 1999 and has more than three decades of experience in the industry.

“We shouldn’t have to lean into the second or third or fourth level of redundancy to keep the system moving. The system is old. It needs upgraded, massive upgrading. So we have to do better,” Bedford said during the hearing. But he said the $12.5 billion that House Republicans have included in Trump’s massive bill is only a down payment on the upgrades.

The National Transportation Safety Board has said the FAA should have acted before January's crash because there had been 85 near misses reported around Ronald Reagan National Airport in the years before the disaster. The FAA has since banned some helicopter routes to make sure helicopters and planes no longer share the same airspace, but there have still been additional near misses in recent months.

FAA’s acting administrator and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have acknowledged the FAA’s shortcomings in not recognizing the risk and pledged to review all the agency’s data to identify any similar concerns nationwide about helicopter traffic near airports. That review prompted the agency to put new limits on helicopter flights around Las Vegas’ airport.

The air traffic controllers union backed Bedford’s nomination because of his support for the effort to modernize the outdated system and bolster controller hiring. Two different radar outages this spring in a facility that directs planes in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport highlighted the problems because the FAA had to limit flights at the airport after five controllers took trauma leave after the problems.

Pilots’ unions and Democrats have raised concerns that Bedford may support weakening the 1,500-hour experience standard for airline pilots that was adopted after a 2009 crash or even might consider allowing some airlines to operate with only one pilot. Republic previously asked for permission to hire pilots with less experience because the standard was making it hard to find enough pilots. Families of the victims of that 2009 Colgan Air crash and the D.C. crash attended the hearing.

“People are going to want to know ... whether you’re going to lead any effort to change that rule,” Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell said. She asked for a firm written answer because “you helped fund and lobbied for a change for it.”

Bedford refused to commit to maintaining the 1,500-hour rule during questioning from Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois.

“What I’m saying is I don’t believe safety is static,” Bedford said as he talked about how the military has changed pilot training to use more technology. Later, he said, “I can commit to you that we will not have anything that will reduce safety.”

Bedford said even if European officials have had some conversations about possibly allowing only one pilot under some circumstances, America is “a long ways away” from ever considering it. He said that's the case even as some companies are developing new technology that might be able to land a plane.

“I do think that there are ways we can absolutely use technology to improve aviation safety," Bedford said. “I don’t think it goes so far as to tell us we need to remove a trained aviator from cockpit.”

Bedford acknowledged Wednesday that “problems persist and more work needs to be done” to ensure the safety of flying around the nation’s capital. He said his own airline’s planes have received at least three alarms about conflicting traffic around Reagan since January.

Bedford said his priority is modernizing the air traffic control system, and he reiterated that there is no plan to privatize the system because a debate over privatization derailed Trump’s previous effort to upgrade the system in his first term.

If confirmed, Bedford will also lead the FAA’s effort to incorporate drones and flying taxis into the nation’s airspace safely. Trump signed executive orders last week to encourage development of that emerging technology.

Bryan Bedford, President Donald Trump's nominee to run the Federal Aviation Administration, testifies at the Senate Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Bryan Bedford, President Donald Trump's nominee to run the Federal Aviation Administration, testifies at the Senate Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Bryan Bedford, President Donald Trump's nominee to run the Federal Aviation Administration, testifies at the Senate Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Bryan Bedford, President Donald Trump's nominee to run the Federal Aviation Administration, testifies at the Senate Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

DETROIT (AP) — Riley Greene homered and Kevin McGonigle drove in two runs as the Detroit Tigers beat Gerrit Cole for the first time in 10 years, winning 5-3 against the New York Yankees on Monday night.

Framber Valdez (4-5) outpitched Cole, giving up one run on four hits and two walks in six innings. The left-hander struck out eight as the Tigers won their fourth straight game.

Cole (2-2) entered 10-1 with a 1.84 ERA in 14 career starts against Detroit, with his only loss coming as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 14, 2016. But the 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner wasn't very sharp this time, allowing five runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out five.

Minus injured slugger Aaron Judge, the Yankees have lost three in a row and four of five. They still have the best record in the American League at 46-31.

New York got a run in the second when José Caballero walked, stole second and scored on Ali Sánchez's double.

Detroit took the lead with three runs in the third.

Zack McKinstry led off with a triple and scored on McGonigle's groundout. Cole struck out Dillon Dingler for the second out, but the next four hitters reached base, including RBI singles by Spencer Torkelson and Colt Keith.

McGonigle's RBI double gave the Tigers a 4-1 lead in the fourth, and Greene's 422-foot homer made it 5-1 in the fifth.

Sánchez exited in the seventh after being hit on the left wrist by a pitch. Amed Rosario homered two pitches later to make it 5-3.

A pair of infield singles brought Jasson Domínguez to the plate with two on and two outs in the eighth, but Will Vest came out of the bullpen to strike him out. Vest also pitched the ninth for his second save.

The game was delayed for seven minutes in the fourth when a camera installed in front of second base popped up through the grass. Despite the best efforts of Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. to rebury the camera, the grounds crew had to come out to fix the field.

The teams continue their three-game series Tuesday night, with Detroit RHP Casey Mize (2-4, 2.58 ERA) scheduled to face LHP Carlos Rodón (3-2, 3.50).

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole walks in the dugout against the Detroit Tigers during the fifth inning of a baseball game Monday, June 22, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole walks to the dugout against the Detroit Tigers during the fifth inning of a baseball game Monday, June 22, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Tigers' Hao-Yu Lee slides safely into home plate against the New York Yankees during the fourth inning of a baseball game Monday, June 22, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Tigers pitcher Framber Valdez throws against the New York Yankees during the first inning of a baseball game Monday, June 22, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Tigers' Riley Greene reacts to his home run agains the New York Yankees during the fifth inning of a baseball game Monday, June 22, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)