The Senate on Wednesday voted 53-43 to approve longtime Republic Airways CEO Bryan Bedford to head the Federal Aviation Administration.
Bedford, the former head of the regional air carrier that operates nearly 1,000 daily flights for major airlines, stepped down last week after more than 25 years leading the airline and was nominated by President Donald Trump.
Approved for a five-year term, Bedford will oversee $12.5 billion in funding passed by Congress last week to remake the U.S. air traffic control system.
Bedford, who has been critical of the FAA's culture and leadership, has also pledged to maintain tough oversight of Boeing, which came under harsh criticism from the National Transportation Safety Board last month for a midair emergency involving a new Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 missing four key bolts.
Meanwhile, Democrats have criticized Bedford for refusing to commit to upholding the 1,500-hour training rule for co-pilots.
Bedford's predecessor, Mike Whitaker, who was nominated by President Joe Biden and confirmed unanimously in October 2023, stepped down in January when Trump took office.
The Trump administration plans to overhaul the FAA's air traffic control system after a Jan. 29 midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines jet near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. All 67 people aboard the aircraft died.
The FAA last month said it was shrinking the area around that airport where helicopters are allowed to operate.
In March, the FAA imposed permanent restrictions on nonessential helicopter operations around Reagan to eliminate helicopter and passenger-jet mixed traffic, including permanently closing one key route after the NTSB made two urgent safety recommendations after the Jan. 29 collision.
The FAA's air traffic control network's woes have been years in the making, but a rush of high-profile near-misses and the deadly crash in January spiked public alarm and prompted new calls for action.
Bedford will need to decide when to lift the production cap of 38 planes per month on Boeing's 737 Max imposed after the midair emergency.
The FAA is not reconsidering its policy of inspecting all Boeing 737 Max and 787 Dreamliner aircraft before issuing airworthiness certificates for individual planes, rather than delegating those tasks to Boeing.