*

Bedford emphasizes collaboration with Boeing ( BA ) for safety

improvements

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FAA faces criticism over certification delays, safety

culture

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Government under pressure to modernize air traffic control

system after fatal January collision

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, June 11 (Reuters) -

President Donald Trump's nominee to head the Federal

Aviation Administration vowed on Wednesday to hold Boeing ( BA )

accountable after a series of safety issues raised questions

about the U.S. planemaker.

Republic Airways CEO Bryan Bedford said at a Senate Commerce

Committee confirmation hearing that there were "some really hard

lessons learned" by the FAA about the failure of a key safety

system tied to two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019

that killed 346 people.

Bedford vowed to hold Boeing ( BA ) "accountable to deliver a

high-quality product safely. ... We can also help Boeing ( BA ) by not

simply saying, 'This fails.' We can collaborate and tell them

where the failures are and how we view remedies that can help

Boeing ( BA ) move the process along a little bit quicker."

Republican Senator Ted Budd asked Bedford about the

extensive process the agency has undertaken to certify new

Boeing ( BA ) airplanes like the Boeing 737 MAX 7 and 10 and 777X that

has led to long delays.

"I look forward to advancing certification, technologies,

processes, employee development around certification," Bedford

responded.

Last week, acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau said he

is not considering lifting a production cap of 38 planes per

month on Boeing's ( BA ) 737 MAX. The cap was imposed after a January

2024 mid-air emergency involving a new Alaska Airlines

Boeing plane that was found to be missing four key bolts.

In December, then-FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said the

agency was looking at streamlining the certification

process

.

During the hearing, Bedford was also asked about efforts to

improve the nation's air safety system.

He declined to commit to not changing a rule requiring

co-pilots have 1,500 hours of flight training. In 2022,

Bedford criticized

the FAA's rejection of Republic's petition for allowing

only 750 hours of flight experience instead of 1,500 hours.

"I would never do anything to compromise safety as

administrator," Bedford said.

He also

reiterated criticism of the FAA's

culture, saying he had met recently with agency employees

and asked them what their goals were. "They don't have any,"

Bedford said.

He said he had also asked about the strategy for improving

air traffic control and that agency employees answered they were

going to keep working hard to make it work. "That's just not the

kind of leadership that we're going to need in order to get the

job done," Bedford said.

Calls to modernize the nation's air traffic control system

intensified after a mid-air collision on January 29 between a

U.S. Army helicopter and an American Airlines jet near

Washington Reagan National Airport. All 67 people aboard the

aircraft died.

One-quarter of all FAA facilities are 50 years old or older

and aging systems have repeatedly sparked delays. A persistent

shortage of controllers has delayed flights and many controllers

are working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks. The FAA is

about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing

levels.