By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Dec 16 (Reuters) – The head of the Federal Aviation Administration said he had not divested his shares in Republic Airways but he would continue to recuse himself from issues that could impact the airline’s finances as he works to sell his holdings, according to a letter made public on Tuesday.

Last week, Democratic U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, who previously served as CEO of Republic, was in violation of his ethics agreement after he had not completed the sale of the shares despite agreeing to divest his holdings within 90 days of his confirmation in July.

Bedford told Cantwell in a letter dated Monday he had recused himself from matters that had a direct effect on Republic’s financial interests and was working to sell the shares “as soon as reasonably practicable.”

At the time of his confirmation, Bedford reported holding stock in Republic worth between $6 million and $30 million. On November 25, Republic completed a merger with Mesa Air Group. 

A Transportation Department lawyer told the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) in a December 5 email that Bedford had been unable to complete the sale given “significant demands on his time and personal commitments.” 

OGE responded the same day that it had made clear in early October that “being busy with your position does not constitute an ‘unusual hardship’” and that other officials had been denied similar requests.

Cantwell’s office said its review of related documents suggested Bedford did not appear to have taken any steps to divest from Republic until early December and even if Bedford had received the 60-day extension he requested on October 7, he should have fully divested from Republic by December 6, but he failed to do that.

Cantwell’s office said Bedford noted he needed to wait for Republic share certificates to be issued before he could divest, but “that does not explain why he did not divest on the original timeline he agreed to – which would have been before the merger closed.”

The FAA declined to comment. Bedford also declined to comment earlier on Tuesday when asked about the issue, saying he would address it at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday.

The committee’s chair, Republican Senator Ted Cruz, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Jamie Freed)

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