President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Aviation Administration ducked repeated questions from Democratic senators Wednesday about his airline’s unsuccessful push in 2022 to hire pilots with about half the flight time required to legally operate its regional jets.
The March nomination of Republic Airways CEO Bryan Bedford to FAA administrator came two months after a midair collision between a military helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport threw a national spotlight on aviation safety. All 67 people aboard both aircraft perished.