Republic Airways CEO Bryan Bedford has been nominated to lead the FAA. He’s an experienced aviation executive, but the major pilot union doesn’t like him because three years ago he petitioned the government to allow his airline to hire co-pilots with fewer hours of experience because his airline’s training academy provides better experience than the random flight hours pilots have to rack up to qualify to work in part 121 operations.
The union, ALPA, wants “assurances that [Bedford] will maintain the current requirements” and is expressing “concerns” about his nomination.
They’re trying to position themselves within a Trumpian MAGA framework, explaining their separate efforts to fight greater automation in cockpits by “foreign airlines and manufacturers” is at odds with an “America First” agenda (presumably because better technology in Europe would give airlines that are safer without two pilots a cost advantage, assuming that ALPA is successful in preventing the U.S. from matching).
ALPA has two major political priorities, using the government to create demand for pilots at high wages.
- They want to make it mandatory to keep two pilots in the cockpit, even in the future when AI becomes better and safer than a human co-pilot.
There’s still institutional angst over the reduction in cockpit crew that brought us down from three and from four, and they can’t fully give up the idea that there should be more. At one time you might have a captain, first officer, flight engineer, navigator and radio operator on a flight, though cockpits were downsized to three by the early 1960s. Eastern Airlines flight engineers went on strike in response to new aircraft which no longer supported a need for their employment.
- Making it expensive and time-consuming to become a pilot. They had a huge lobbying success with the ‘1,500 hour rule’ as a response to the Colgan Air crash even though both pilots of that aircraft had more hours than that. Pilot fatigue rules included in the same ‘do something’ legislative package were meaningful contributions to safety, the hours requirement was an occupational licensing rule meant as a barrier to entry that limits pilot supply and drives up wages.
We’re beginning to see silly pieces suggesting Bedford “Has History of Lowering Air Safety Standards” when nothing could be further from the truth. He asked the FAA to treat his airline’s flight training as akin to military training, which allows for co-pilots with 750 hours.
- This article gets the timeline wrong entirely, suggesting that “In 2002, the airline under Bedford asked the FAA for an exception from federal regulations on the required number of flight hours for new pilots for graduates of its own flight school.” The 1,500 hour rule for co-pilots didn’t even start until 2013.
- And suggests that safety rules ought to be made by the mob, noting that the number of “comments in favor of maintaining the [flight hours] requirements, including those from legislators, pilot unions, and flight schools, outnumbered comments in favor of granting an exemption.”
The 1,500 hour rule doesn’t improve safety. Hours in a hot air balloon even count. In fact, the balloon can be tethered.
In fact, it doesn’t help learn to become a commercial pilot at all. Hours are usually racked up through repeated clear air touch-and-go’s, experiencing the same airports over and over in conditions not at all like they’d face in commercial operations. Meanwhile, when a pilot does get hired by a commercial airline, they generally need to have all of the bad habits they’ve picked up in their quest for hours trained out of them.
Many better quality pilots don’t go through the time and expense necessary to rack up the ghost hours needed to become a commercial pilot. As a result, there’s a smaller pool of talent to pick from. That limitation is bad for safety.
Pilots fly in the U.S without these hours every day. Co-pilots for foreign airlines like Lufthansa don’t have to have 1,500 hours, yet they land at U.S. airports and fly through U.S. airspace. Similarly, U.S. pilots express no concerns flying in Europe where no such rule exists.
Self-interested slogans, like ‘bad for safety’, are much easier than understanding what’s really going on though.
And this after the Pilot in Command of the Delta plane that crashed in Toronto had less that 1500 hours!!!
For example: Lufthansa uses ab initio training and has done so for years. They even have a center in Arizona.
A far superior training system than simply an individual using the buy and fly hours accrual.
Well written article, thanks, Gary !
He sounds like exactly the kind of person needed for the position.
I am more concerned with the problems with ATC than whether or not a co-pilot has 1,500 hours or 1,132… ATC needs modernization ASAP — that impacts (no pun intended) safety far more than 1,500 hours…
Bedford did jail time at when he worked at Mesaba air link. Weird I’ve seen the articles as they flooded the employee group at republic but now they’re scrubbed on the internet. But, he in fact did. He’ll fit in well.
Gary, after Germanwings Flight 9525, and others like it, are you seriously still pushing this objectively bad idea of not needing more than one pilot? C’mon, man. You know better. Artificial intelligence does not fix that issue, and it certainly isn’t ready for that yet either, nor does it solve the possibility of a medical emergency on the flight deck. Two is better than one, reducing probabilities of either of those preventable concerns. It’s simply good to have qualified, well-trained back-ups readily available at all times. While safety is becoming more and more of an issue with recent incidents, I’m a little surprised that anyone is still pushing for this. Lives are on the line.
As to the inevitable union-bashers that usually show up here eventually (like @Mike P, based on his explicit prior comment history on other posts at VFTW), all I have to say is: No. Just stop. Nothing is perfect, though unions are overall good and important for both workers and the society at large. They advocate for better wages, working conditions, benefits, job security, and fairer, more stable workplaces. We can argue over specific policies or leadership (or lack thereof), but throwing out baby with the bathwater (‘banning unions’) is not the answer.
Craig Jones, your information about the PIC time is incorrect. The first officer graduated from a university with an accredited and well-respected aviation program, and so was able to start working with fewer than 1,500 hours under a Restricted Air Transport Pilot certificate. She crossed the 1,500-hour mark and earned her full ATP certificate in January 2023.
Oh, and the captain was the PIC of that flight.
The Germanwings crash was an argument FOR AI in the cockpit, not AGAINST AI in the cockpit. Humans can lie about their mental health and lockout other humans. If I was a passenger on 9525, I’d have liked an AI in the cockpit that might have stopped the co-pilot from acting as he did.
@Dave
The Canadian TSB just issued a preliminary report on the accident. The report says at the time of the event, the FO had 1422.3 total flight time.
Gary likes to throw out that you could conceivably get your 1500 hours doing touch and go’s, but I don’t know anyone that has done that. I agree that some hours are better experience than others, but in the end, you need to have a number. And in the Toronto accident, it looks like the judgement of the PF during the landing phase was the cause of the accident. Another factor was the recent experience (and low total time per year) of the Captain. But Gary continues to advocate that experience is overrated.
Just a number doesn’t mean much you know. But perhaps instructor time could count double since that is more valuable than just buzzing around the sky. But as I have mentioned before, tethered balloon time does not count for logging and no airline is going to take free flying in any kind of lighter than air craft very seriously anyway. So your information on this is largely incorrect.
One event does not prove anything. Did a microburst contribute to the sink rate? If one 5000 hour pilot crashes a plane, I guess we should limit a pilot to be under 5000 hours. Maybe we should look age as a factor too. Maybe all pilot should have between 1500 and 250 hours, since there are very few pilots flying in that age range for the majors, therefore very few accidents. I’d like to see data, not union desires.
Are you really claiming that pilots shouldn’t have 2 years’ worth of work experience before carrying 200 passengers on a scheduled flight???
Are you serious??
“They want to make it mandatory to keep two pilots in the cockpit, even in the future when AI becomes better and safer than a human co-pilot. ”
You already have autopilot that is safer than a human pilot. Until you have instrument issues, power issues, have to start working through those “irregular” checklists, etc. Then the pilot is pretty happy to have a co-pilot to split the workload with. AI isn’t magic, just like an autopilot it’d work a treat in ordinary flight but perhaps not so much when there’s problems.
As for the 1500 hour rule — *shrug*. If the 1500 hour rule doesn’t improve safety it should probably be scrapped.
Like a whole lot of other things, Trump is likely to turn the status quo on its head.
People are freaking out now but I strongly suspect the 1500/1000/750 hour (depending on where one was trailed) rules will go away.
and, as a reminder, low time was not the reason for the Colgan accident… it was fatigue due to a cross-country commute. and that part still hasn’t been fixed; airlines just can’t schedule pilots the way the commuting pilot flew.
the parallel part of this is what happens with ATC. Supposedly, proposals for a complete rebuild of the US ATC system are imminent.
as for pilot costs, of course ALPA has to do what it can but labor costs for US airlines are well above any other country in the world, safety is not necessarily any better, and the things that are driving up labor costs aren’t contributing to better service or safety.
as much as some people don’t want to hear it, the Education Secretary’s comments are true… you can’t keep pouring the most money into systems that produce results well below global averages
Like a whole lot of other things, the current national chief executive is likely to turn the status quo on its head. People are freaking out now but I strongly suspect the 1500/1000/750 hour (depending on where one was trailed) rules will go away. and, as a reminder, low time was not the reason for the Colgan accident… it was fatigue due to a cross-country commute. and that part still hasn’t been fixed; airlines just can’t schedule pilots the way the commuting pilot flew. the parallel part of this is what happens with ATC. Supposedly, proposals for a complete rebuild of the US ATC system are imminent. as for pilot costs, of course ALPA has to do what it can but labor costs for US airlines are well above any other country in the world, safety is not necessarily any better, and the things that are driving up labor costs aren’t contributing to better service or safety. as much as some people don’t want to hear it, the Education Secretary’s comments are true… you can’t keep pouring the most money into systems that produce results well below global averages
I flew for over 50 years, primarily in single-pilot helicopters, including single-pilot IFR. However, not all flying experience is equally valuable. For instance, flying a tethered balloon or instructing touch-and-go landings may not adequately prepare you for an airline career.
When hiring pilots, I never solely relied on the number of flight hours. I believe any Chief Pilot or Director of Flight Operations would agree that this is not the sole criterion. Instead, I always sought pilots with relevant experience in various conditions.
While flight hours contribute to a pilot’s breadth of knowledge, they are not the only factor. Pilots continually encounter unique flying situations, problems, and emergencies. The more of these they experience, the more likely they are to be prepared for similar or not-so-similar events.
It’s important to note that not all pilots are created equal. Some are what I might call natural pilots—excellent stick-and-rudder pilots with uncanny precision. This skill is a combination of mental and physical abilities. Some individuals can run sub-4-minute miles, while others struggle to walk a block.
During flight checks and evaluations, with sufficient experience to make these judgments, weeding out both capable pilots and those who lack the necessary skills is a crucial part of hiring a pilot. I’ve encountered natural low-time pilots without the necessary seasoning and high-time pilots without seasoning who I wouldn’t hire.
I aimed to recruit pilots with the expertise to make critical decisions under challenging circumstances. We mandated a minimum of 3,000 flight hours and other criteria for flying Hospital Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) helicopters. My experience there spanned nearly four decades. While we considered the number of flight hours, we placed greater emphasis on the types of flying they had done. Typically, we preferred pilots with over 6,000 hours of experience, having flown in diverse sectors such as the military, forestry, charter, and corporate aviation. A more varied flying expertise was highly valued. After observing their flying skills during a check flight, we would offer them employment after determining their skills matched their logbook. Although I have retired, when I fly, I seek a pilot who can effectively operate the aircraft and possesses a wealth of experience. In my experience, finding such pilots among those with less than 1,500 flight hours is challenging.
@DA Pilit – “Gary continues to advocate that experience is overrated.”
No, just that generic hours do not equal experience.
Experience is quite valuable which is why current mandatory retirement is dumb.
@Mary, do you realize the rule in question doesn’t exist in other countries/regions (even when airlines from those countries/regions fly to the US?)
Hmmmmm…… So how did the automation with the 737MAX do ?
Sadly, over 300 souls won’t even be able to chime in on this question….
I find it highly offensive that airline corporate speak of ‘highest priority pax & crew safety” is driveled out of 1 side of their foul mouth while an endorsement of 1 or none pilot cockpits runs out of the other ….
problem that I see with modern part 121 availability is that a 4 hour flight will have what 15 min of stick time ? Takeoff and landing from the outer marker. So 1500 hours may not be very much “real stick time” altho that requirement is a left over from the 70s.
@Chris — My position wasn’t about whether Artificial Intelligence should or shouldn’t be involved; rather, I am opposed to reducing the minimum number of pilots on most commercial aircraft from 2 to 1, because of the potential for mental and general health concerns. Nowadays, if the pilots need to use the restroom, a flight attendant enters the cockpit in their place to prevent a Germanwings scenario.
@Tim Dunn — I see based on your nearly duplicate comments that you’ve learned (like others) that referring to any of the recent Presidents by name gets automatically sent to manual review by Gary. I’ve resorted to calling him #45/47, or just, the current President, which is probably most respectful to the office, which still is deserving, even if its holder and His positions are not my preference.
About the Toronto airport crash. The preliminary report by the Canadian authorities says: “The first officer has worked for Endeavor Air since January 2024. She holds an airline transport pilot certificate issued by the FAA. At the time of the occurrence, she had accumulated 1422.3 hours total flight time, including 418.7 hours on the aircraft type.” Although both the USA and Canada use English as their main language, there is no guarantee that the 1422.3 hours total flight time hours by the Canadian authorities are considered the same way as the 1500 hours are considered for an Airline Transport Pilot license in the USA. Of course, it being a preliminary report, the actual final numbers may be different in the final report.
Gary are you familiar with the airline hiring practices? Because I promise you, someone who has 1500 hours in a hot air balloon will not be hired.
This article is flat out wrong on so many levels, it brings into question your credibility on other articles.
Additionally, AI better than human pilots? Your AI can’t even generate decent images or articles, so let’s cool the jets on AI in the cockpit.
The fact that you advocate for lower wages and union busting is Despicable.
Correct! generic hours doing pipeline patrol, dropping parachutes in a single engine or instructing privat pilot licenses on some backwater airstrip, does not build competency to operate a multi Crew jet IFR in complex airspace. Nor was it a recommendation of the NTSB following the Colgan Air crash, the 1500 hour rule is a holy political created thing to make lawmakers look good in the public eye, and is not doing anything to improve safety
@KB – you’re missing the point, the hot air balloon shows the stupidity of the federal rule. In terms of airline hiring standards *they work to train the bad habits out of pilots that are picked up in the mindless quest for hours*.
I watched a video of a robot landing a B737-800. The “robot” has cameras for eyes and is trained where to “look” for current flight information and programing. (evidently much simpler than programing the robot for all scenarios.) The problem is how do you train a human to fly the left seat or does the robot upgrade . . . possibly out of seniority.
Regarding the 1500 rule: If a pilot hasn’t scared himself a couple of times in that initial 1500 hours (as in I will NEVER do that again) then the pilot is either exceptional or just plain lucky.
I haven’t paid much attention to the FAR’s since retiring but I wasn’t aware that Lighter-Than-Air time could be used to qualify for a higher rating (as in total time) in Heavier-Than-Air.
One more comment regarding Gary’s last remark. Friend of mine who is now 72 with 50 years of accident free, violation free Commericaal and Airline flying and current FAA First Class Medical was recently fired. The reason . . . INSURANCE company will not insure pilots over 72! The insurance company won’t even insure him in the right seat.
Randy Babbit, you are forgiven. . . come back.
BTW, based on my experience with attempting to change the FAA Age 60 Rule (2005-2007), I’m quite sure that Mr. Bryan Bedford, while acting as the FAA Administrator, cannot randomly change the FAR’s. It literally took and Act of Congress to change the Age 60 Rule to The Age 65 Rule just as it did to the 1500 Total Time rule (with the exception stipulations.)
Until planes can fully take off, fly and land by themselves, or until ground based pilots can take over a plane via remote control, I want two pilots in planes. Simple reasons – pilots sometimes have medical emergencies in flight. There needs to be two or more people on a plane that can operate it at all times.
Anthony, I’m with you on that! There are some things that just aren’t worth what the foreseeable state of technology offers (sorry Mr. Musk, I also don’t think that in 5 years 40-50% of the vehicles on the road being autonomously is a grand idea.)
@Gary,
These are the requirements for an ATP:
Total Flight Time: 1,500 hours.
Cross-Country Flight Time: 500 hours.
Night Flight Time: 100 hours.
Pilot-In-Command (PIC) Time: 250 hours.
Instrument Flight Time: 75 hours.
Flight Time in the Class of Airplane for the Rating Sought: 50 hours.
You cannot log 500 hours x-country being tethered, nor instrument, and that’s just to start. You’re being disingenuous with your “reporting”. So no, I’m not missing the point.
Are you suggesting increasing the requirment?
Additionally, have you gone through airline training? Because I have. They don’t teach to “break the bad habits”. Your checkrides, training, etc are supposed to reinforce good habits, where you have 1500 hours to do so, at a minimum. They teach you the SOP for the airline. Bad habits come from many sources, including flying the line at a legacy, the military, as well as the “Mindless quest for hours”.
Speaking of “Mindless quest for hours”. What? This isnt a video game. That’s like saying getting experience in *anything* is a mindless quest. It’s just the hours are the best we have to measure experience (not perfect). Which is also why quality of said hours matter, and what *humans* do when reviewing applications. The last 3 years have been abnormal. But that’s already changing. Pre 1500 hour rule there were literal astronauts getting passed over for interviews.
Also, you don’t seem to even have a student certificate according to the FAA, so I’m going to go ahead and disregard any of your input into what makes a pilot experienced vs not. Extremely disrespectful to the profession, and reinforces that you just want to see those wages lowered.
Self driving cars haven’t really worked yet. What makes anyone think that a self flying airplane is in the near future? NADA. To “Craig Jones”, the pilot in command is the captain…period. The “pilot flying” is either the captain, first officer or relief pilot. 1500 hours MINIMUM is required for the ATP certificate. All airline pilots must have an ATP to be hired. With exception to a “restricted ATP” which can be had with less than 1500 hours provided the pilot has graduated from an approved flight school (Embry-Riddle, Perdue, Middle Tennessee State, Auburn, et. al). It happens, but rarely does a major airline hire anyone with less than 5,000 hours and at least 1000 of turbine pilot in command. Military pilots can sometimes get in without those minimums due to the stringent training they’ve undergone. They still must have an ATP, though. There is a “YouTuber” that categorically stated that the Toronto pilots were not qualified. Of course Delta correctly denied that. It would be nice if the two pilots took him to court to prove his assertions. OOPSEE!