(Reuters) -The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee will hold a June 11 hearing on President Donald Trump’s nomination of Republic Airways CEO Bryan Bedford to head the Federal Aviation Administration.
Bedford, a pilot and industry veteran of more than 30 years, previously headed two other carriers and oversaw a significant expansion of Republic Airways. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has asked Congress for tens of billions of dollars to modernize the aging U.S. air traffic control system to address airport congestion, flight delays and a shortage of 3,500 certified controllers.
The FAA’s air traffic control network’s woes have been years in the making, but a rush of high-profile mishaps, near-misses and a catastrophic crash in January involving an American Airlines regional jet and an Army helicopter killed 67 and prompted new calls for action.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
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