US senator says FAA administrator failed to divest airline shares

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Dec 10 (Reuters) – The top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee said on Wednesday that the head of the Federal Aviation Administration failed to divest his holdings in ‍Republic Airways in violation of his ethics agreement.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, who previously served as CEO of Republic Airways, had agreed to divest his holdings within 90 days of confirmation. At the time of his confirmation, Bedford reported holding stock in Republic worth between $6 million and $30 ‌million.

“It appears you continue to retain significant equity in ‌this conflicting asset months past the deadline set to fully divest from Republic, which constitutes a clear violation of your ethics agreement. This is unacceptable and demands a full accounting,” Cantwell said. The FAA said Bedford will respond directly to ​Cantwell.

Cantwell made public a December 8 letter from the Office of Government Ethics that said Bedford had not complied with the ethics agreement ‍and had sought an amendment to ​extend the divestiture timeframe for the remaining conflicting asset, Republic ​Airways. The ethics office said the request did not meet the standard ‍for granting an amendment.

The office said it has not been informed that Bedford has divested. It told the U.S. Department of Transportation to emphasize to Bedford “it is his personal responsibility to avoid taking any action that could create a real or apparent conflict of interest with his ‍holdings.”

On November 25, Republic completed its merger with Mesa Air Group. Under the merger agreement, Republic stockholders own approximately 88% of the combined company’s stock. ‍The company owns the ‍world’s largest Embraer jet fleet of 310 E-Jets, Cantwell ​said.

“The extent to which this merger may increase the ​value ⁠of your shares in Republic — which you were supposed ‌to divest before the merger closed — or otherwise impacted your decision making is also unclear,” Cantwell wrote.

Cantwell wants Bedford to answer if he intends to divest all his airline shares, and is seeking a complete list of all matters he has recused himself from over this holding.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in WashingtonEditing ⁠by Bill Berkrot)