Trump's FAA pick has claimed 'commercial' pilot license he doesn't have [View all]
Source: Politico
06/15/2025 09:00 AM EDT
President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Federal Aviation Administration long described himself in his official biography as being certified to fly aircraft commercially — but records examined by POLITICO show that he does not hold any commercial license.
Bryan Bedford’s biography at Republic Airways, the regional airline where he has been CEO since 1999, said until Thursday that he “holds commercial, multi-engine and instrument ratings.” (By Friday, after POLITICO’s inquiries, the word “commercial” had been removed.) The FAA registry that houses data on pilot’s licenses does not list any such commercial credentials for Bedford.
Similar language asserting commercial credentials for Bedford appeared in his Republic bio since at least 2010, according to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.
Bedford is a licensed private pilot, the FAA records show, and has attained additional credentials allowing him to fly in a variety of specialized circumstances, including operating multi-engine planes and piloting at night or in bad weather. He has passed “written and oral exams” for becoming a commercial airline pilot, the Transportation Department said in a statement, adding that Bedford had not “personally nor publicly claimed to be a commercial airline pilot.”
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/15/trumps-faa-pick-has-claimed-commercial-pilot-license-he-doesnt-have-00406090
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