The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced the end of flight limits at 40 major airports, which were put in place during the recent government shutdown. Regular flight schedules are expected to resume Monday morning.
Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford released a joint statement explaining the decision. The FAA had previously limited flights due to safety concerns tied to staffing shortages at air traffic control facilities during the shutdown.
These limits, which began on November 7th, affected air travel across the country, impacting hubs in major cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. The cuts started at 4% and later grew to 6%, before being reduced to 3% as air traffic controller staffing improved following the end of the 43-day shutdown on November 12th.
According to the FAA, a safety team recommended ending the order after reviewing safety trends and seeing a decline in staffing-related incidents at air traffic control centers. The agency also noted it is looking into reports of airlines not following the emergency order.
The flight cancellations peaked on November 9th, with over 2,900 flights cut due to the FAA order, controller shortages, and bad weather.
The FAA had originally aimed for a 10% flight reduction, with Secretary Duffy citing safety data showing the need to ease pressure on the aviation system as staffing shortages worsened. Air traffic controllers, deemed essential, continued to work without pay during the shutdown, missing two paychecks. Duffy mentioned reports of planes getting too close, more runway incidents, and pilot concerns about controller responses as reasons for the initial cuts. Airline leaders are hopeful that operations will recover before the busy Thanksgiving travel period.
