President Joe Biden's nominee to lead the Federal Aviation Administration would prioritize ending pandemic telework policies for federal employees and bring the out-of-date agency into the 21st century.

Former FAA Deputy Administrator Michael Whitaker told Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee members during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday that, if approved, he would focus heavily on matters with agency employees.

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"I do believe that it's important to be in person for collaboration and working together," said Whitaker, a pilot and former aviation industry executive. "This has been a challenging issue for all organizations, private or public. And I think what needs to happen is after understanding the situation that we're in and the limitations that might be there, issuing very clear guidance, what the expectations are to get people in the office."

In July, the FAA announced that employees would have to return to the office no fewer than three days per week starting on Oct. 9. The union pushed back against a 100% return to office, complicating the agency's attempt to reinstate the policy.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) egged Whitaker on over the work-from-home policies and claimed the federal government was the only employer that had not returned to pre-pandemic policies.

"When I talk to businesses in the private sector, virtually all of them, employees are going back to work, and they're physically present. And yet, throughout the Biden administration, we have a pattern in just about every agency where large portions of the workforce have apparently decided going into the office is optional," Cruz said. "That seriously limits the effectiveness of an agency and particularly an agency whose mission is protecting people's lives and the airspace."

When asked by Cruz if he would commit to "working diligently" to bring employees back into the office, Whitaker agreed.

Whitaker was second in command at the FAA from 2012 through 2015. The agency has had a gap in leadership over the past 18 months. Returning to the FAA at this point, Whitaker said, would warrant three actions he would take in his five-year term as administrator.

"First, I will work not just to maintain the safety record we have collectively achieved but build upon it. The two Boeing MAX crashes remind us that we must be ever-vigilant," Whitaker said.

The agency ought to ensure gaps in the FAA certification process are closed so that undisclosed changes manufacturers make to aircraft can still be caught before being put into use.

Second, the FAA should be more "agile and creative" and willing to "adapt quickly" and plan for the future rather than focus on the present.

The FAA has but one academy that takes years to complete, and it can only accommodate 1,800 air traffic controllers at a time.

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Whitaker's final point was that the government should make the FAA a place where people interested in aviation careers, particularly air traffic controllers, want to work.

He was tasked with hiring 6,000 air traffic controllers during his previous stint at the FAA but came up far short.