In August 2025, a purported quote by renowned airplane pilot Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump's choice to head the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), spread on the internet. Sullenberger was known for his "Miracle on the Hudson" when he landed a damaged plane in New York's Hudson River in 2009 and saved the lives of all his passengers.
According to posts, Sullenberger opposed Trump's choice of Bryan Bedford to lead the FAA, and wrote the following statement:
Aviation Safety has been my life's work.
After my emergency landing in the Hudson River and the Colgan Air crash the following month, I knew that I had an obligation to make it my mission to keep safe everyone who flies.
But with the nomination of Bryan Bedford to be FAA Administrator, my life's work could be undone.
Mr. Bedford has already shown that he is willing to lie about his qualifications as a pilot, and he is not willing to uphold the critically important pilot experience requirements put in place in 2010 that have been so effective in ensuring the safety of the traveling public.
Let me be crystal clear: Mr. Bedford will not commit to the current 1500-hour pilot experience rule, which means that airline pilots would have far less experience, and would not be seasoned, literally, not having experienced flying in all the seasons of the year, the crosswinds of spring, the thunderstorms of summer, the frost and fog of fall and the ice and snow of winter. The first time a pilot experiences real weather should not be with paying passengers onboard, unwitting and unwilling guinea pigs.
And Bedford has indicated that he would reduce regulations and let the airlines regulate themselves more. That's insane. Manufacturers also?
The FAA Administrator position has always been held by notable, respected people who come from the aviation industry and government, many former high ranking military officers, pilots, and aviation professionals.
As we have all seen recently, today's aviation system is stressed, and we need an experienced aviation safety expert that we can all trust.
I have long said that my criterion for safety was to ask myself if I would want my family on this airplane.
We all deserve better.
The above post was authentic and was shared on Sullenberger's verified social media accounts. He has publicly opposed Trump's choice for the FAA head. As such, we rate the claim as correct attribution.
On June 23, 2025, Sullenberger posted a slight variation of the same statement on his verified Instagram account (archived) and LinkedIn (archived) account. He shared the statement in response to Bedford's hearings in which the FAA nominee was grilled by U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., on his qualifications. Sullenberger also stated:
The nomination of Bryan Bedford for @faa Administrator puts the integrity of our aviation safety system at extreme risk.
The last slide here features a press conference clip where @senduckworth asked Bedford to confirm his stance regarding the 1,500-Hour Rule, specifically. Despite repeated questioning, he declined to give a clear, definitive answer.
Duckworth questioned Bedford on not committing to the 1,500-hour training requirement for pilots that was enforced by Congress after a 2009 plane crash. Bedford declined to say whether he would uphold that ruling. He only said, "My priority is fixing the air traffic control system" and he would "not roll back safety."
The Senate confirmed Bedford as FAA administrator on July 9, 2025. While many Democrats and Sullenberger opposed the nomination, the air traffic controllers union supported him due to his commitment to modernize outdated systems.
Sullenberger also noted that Bedford had previously misrepresented his qualifications as a pilot. In June 2025, Bedford admitted that he did not have a commercial pilot's license despite claiming to have one for years on the website of Republic Airways, where he once held the position of CEO. He does, however, have a private pilot's license.
Snopes has covered a number of news stories about the FAA, including the unproven claim that Trump fired 3,000 air traffic controllers ahead of a fatal collision between two aircraft in January 2025.