Bryan Keith Bedford (born October 26, 1961) is an American business executive who has served as the chief executive of Republic Airways Holdings since 1999. In March 2025, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

named Bedford as his nominee to serve as administrator of the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

Early life and education

Bryan Keith Bedford was born on October 26, 1961, in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Bedford graduated from

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

with a bachelor's degree.

Career

Early career (1983–1995)

By 1990, Bedford was a financial controller for

WestAir Commuter Airlines WestAir Commuter Airlines (IATA:OE, VB/ICAO WCA, SDU), was a U.S.-based regional airline formed when Stol Air Commuter changed its name in 1978 to WestAir Airlines; it was renamed WestAir Commuter Airlines in 1986. One of the founders was Mauric ...

. Three years later, he had become the chief financial officer of Phoenix Airline Services. That year, he was named a principal of Chicago Express Airlines's regional service.

Mesaba Airlines (1995–1999)

In July 1995, Bedford became the president and chief executive of

Mesaba Airlines Mesaba Aviation, Inc. (operating as Mesaba Airlines) was a regional airline in the United States that operated from 1944 until it merged with Pinnacle Airlines in 2012 to form Endeavor Air. It was based in Eagan, Minnesota From 2010 to 2012, the ...

Chautauqua Airlines (1999–2014)

In June 1999, Bedford became the president, chairman, and chief executive of Chautauqua Airlines. He led the airline after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

Republic Airways (1999–present)

In July 1999, Bedford became the president and chief executive of Republic Airways Holdings. He became chairman in August 2001. In 2009, the company won a bankruptcy auction for

Frontier Airlines Frontier Airlines, Inc. is a major American ultra low-cost airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 120 destinations in the United States, Caribbean, Mexico and Central America, and employs more than 5,000 staff. ...

. The following year, Bedford appeared on '' Undercover Boss'' (2010–2022) as the chief executive of Frontier, announcing that he would end a ten percent pay cut. According to ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', his appearance drew scrutiny from the

Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration

At the start of president

's second administration in January 2025,

Michael Whitaker Michael Whitaker (born 17 March 1960) is a British Olympic equestrian rider, who competes in the sport of show jumping. He was ranked 5th by the British Showjumping Association in March 2014. Career Younger brother of John Whitaker, Mich ...

, the administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, resigned. In March,

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg T ...

reported that Bedford was a frontrunner to serve as Trump's nominee for the position. On March 17, Trump named Bedford as his nominee.

Views

Bedford has opposed a rule that requires commercial airline pilots to log 1,500 hours of flying before obtaining their license, lobbying against it before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in 2014. In 2022, the

rejected Republic Airways Holdings's request to reduce required hours to 750.

Personal life

In August 1990, Bedford married Maria Richelle La Riche at Naples United Church of Christ in

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,115, down from 19,539 at the 2010 census. Naples is a principal city of the Collier County, Florida, Naples–Marc ...

. Bedford claimed for years being license to fly commercially while being a licensed private pilot.

References

Works cited

Articles

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Documents

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bedford, Bryan 1961 births Living people Florida State University alumni 21st-century American businesspeople American airline chief executives