July 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Wednesday voted 53 to

43 approve Republic Airways CEO Bryan Bedford to head the

Federal Aviation Administration.

Bedford, the head of the regional air carrier nominated by

President Donald Trump and approved for a five-year-term, will

oversee $12.5 billion in funding over five years to remake the

aging U.S. air traffic control system passed by Congress last

week. Bedford has also pledged to maintain tough oversight of

Boeing ( BA ), which came under harsh criticism from the

National Transportation Safety Board last month for a mid-air

emergency involving a new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9

missing four key bolts.