\n
The head of the US Federal Aviation Administration has been accused of violating his ethics agreement by failing to divest a multimillion-dollar stake in an airline he once led, drawing criticism from a senior lawmaker and raising fresh questions about potential conflicts at the helm of the United States\u2019 top aviation safety regulator.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sen. Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, wrote to FAA Administrator\u00a0Bryan Bedford\u00a0saying he promised during his confirmation process to sell all his shares in\u00a0Republic Airways\u00a0within\u00a090 days\u00a0of taking office but has failed to do so more than\u00a0150 days\u00a0later. Bedford\u2019s financial disclosures showed his holdings in the regional carrier were worth between\u00a0$6 million and $30 million\u00a0at the time he was confirmed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a December 8, 2025,\u00a0letter from the\u00a0Office of Government Ethics\u00a0to Cantwell\u2019s committee, regulators noted that Bedford\u00a0sought\u00a0to amend his original ethics agreement to extend the divestiture timeline, but the request was denied because it did not meet the standards for such changes. The ethics office also said it has\u00a0not been informed that Bedford has divested\u00a0his Republic stock and told Transportation Department ethics officials to emphasize his personal responsibility to avoid any actions that could create a conflict of interest.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cantwell\u2019s letter says the ongoing failure to divest violates the commitments Bedford made when he was confirmed as FAA\u00a0chief, a role in which he oversees critical aspects of US aviation safety and regulation. \u201cIt appears you continue to retain significant equity in this conflicting asset months past the deadline set to fully divest from Republic, which constitutes a clear violation of your ethics agreement,\u201d she wrote, calling for a full accounting of his actions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Republic Airways, where Bedford was CEO before joining the FAA, completed a merger with\u00a0Mesa Air Group\u00a0on November 25, 2025. Under the merger deal, Republic shareholders now own about 88% of the combined company, which\u00a0operates\u00a0a fleet of more than 300 Embraer jets under contracts with legacy airlines. Cantwell\u2019s letter noted that timing and the recent merger could have increased the value of Bedford\u2019s holdings, raising further questions about why the divestiture has not been completed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bedford has previously pledged to divest the holdings and recuse himself from matters affecting Republic Airways until that process is complete. But as of mid-December\u00a02025, that effort has not been finished,\u00a0apparently\u00a0leaving\u00a0him with a significant airline stake while leading the agency responsible for regulating carriers and overseeing air safety.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The FAA has been under heightened scrutiny this year after a deadly midair collision over Washington, D.C., earlier in 2025 and other recent operational challenges, including air traffic control outages and widespread flight delays during a prolonged government shutdown. Cantwell\u2019s letter ties into broader concerns about FAA leadership credibility and public trust in the agency\u2019s oversight.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cantwell has asked Bedford to explain why he did not\u00a0comply with\u00a0the 90-day divestiture timeline, why he sought an amendment to his ethics agreement, and to provide a full accounting of any Republic stock he has sold. She gave him a deadline of\u00a0December 16,\u00a02025\u00a0to respond.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The head of the US Federal Aviation Administration has been accused of violating his ethics agreement by failing to divest a multimillion-dollar stake in an airline he once led, drawing criticism from a senior lawmaker and raising fresh questions about potential conflicts at the helm of the United States\u2019 top aviation safety regulator.\u00a0 Sen. Maria […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":341427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12024],"tags":[14249,3576,10465,16127,17604,5172,28488,3310,77134],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-341426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aerospace","tag-airline","tag-chief","tag-deal","tag-ethics","tag-faa","tag-keeping","tag-senator","tag-stock","tag-violated"],"yoast_head":"\n
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