As an aviation industry veteran for more than 35 years, Bedford has a proven track record of safe operations, executive leadership, and innovation.

Bedford previously served as president and chief executive officer of Republic Airways. During his 26 years at the helm of Republic, the airline grew from $85 million in revenues and 36 turboprop aircraft to more than $3 billion in revenues and an operating fleet of more than 250 jets, while maintaining a perfect passenger safety record.

In 2018, Bedford led Republic in launching the visionary LIFT Academy, the first airline-owned training academy. As the cutting-edge program began to equip pilots with the skills they needed to succeed, LIFT added an aviation maintenance training program.

Bedford’s previous jobs include president and chief executive of Mesaba Airlines, president and chief executive officer of Business Express Airlines, chief financial officer of Phoenix Airline Services, and chief financial officer for West Air Airlines.

Bedford has served as chairman of the Regional Airline Association for multiple terms. He was named Airline Executive of the Year in 1997, 2004, and 2009 and holds a multi-engine, instrument-rated private pilot license.

Bedford graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting.

During his career in the Air Force, Abel was a member of the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto-GCAS) team, which won the 2018 Robert J. Collier Trophy. He flew more than 500 combat hours as an E-11A evaluator pilot in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. Abel completed his Air Force career as director of the Joint Center for Electromagnetic Readiness for United States Strategic Command. He received a PhD in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

For nearly 20 years, he has held engineering leadership positions across Boeing’s single- and twin-aisle jet families and future airplane concepts. From 2019 to 2021, he was the engineering executive leader for the Boeing 737 MAX return-to-service efforts in Europe and the Middle East, working with international regulators and operators to ensure readiness and safety. He was awarded the Outstanding Aerospace Engineer distinction by Purdue’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2016.

During more than 25 years with Textron Aviation, she has held roles in both the commercial and defense segments of the company and has supported engineering, new product development, flight test, and operations. Townsend is a private pilot with an instrument rating and A&P certificate. She received an MBA from Baker University.