Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Bryan Bedford has broken his ethics pledge
- Tue, May 26 2026 at 3:44 PM
Mark,
Here’s a troubling conflict of interest that’s flown below the radar.
Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Bryan Bedford broke his pledge to divest his financial interests in an airline company within 90 days of taking office.
Here’s why that matters so much:
Bedford didn’t divest from Republic Airways until months after the legal deadline—waiting until after Republic Airways successfully merged with Mesa Air Group, which drove 20.6% revenue growth for the airline and delivered him a significant financial windfall.
And it gets worse.
Bedford has also admitted that he received an “extraordinary payment” from Republic Airways in connection with his departure for a future government role.
Ethics regulations bar officials who receive “extraordinary payments” from a former employer before taking a government job from working on matters involving that employer for two years. Despite this, Bedford has given conflicting answers about whether he will recuse himself from matters directly affecting Republic Airways.
All of this is happening as Republic Airways could renew its push to slash the pilot training requirement from a mandatory 1,500 hours to just 750—cutting it in half.
After that requirement was adopted, the related fatality rate dropped by 99.8%. Reversing it could make air travel significantly less safe—and Administrator Bedford is now in a position to influence that policy, despite his financial conflicts of interest.
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