Flight cuts imposed amid shutdown will end Monday, FAA says
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Passengers look at flight delays on a departure board at Orlando International Airport (MCO) on Nov. 9 in Orlando, Florida. after the FAA announced its flight reductions plan. Photo: Andrew Wevers/Getty Images
All flight restrictions that the Federal Aviation Administration imposed during the record-long government shutdown will end at 6am Monday, the FAA announced.
Why it matters: Thousands of flights were canceled or delayed at 40 airports across the U.S. as the emergency order that the FAA said was in response to "reviews of safety trends and the steady decline of staffing-trigger events in air traffic control facilities" saw routes slashed.
- The return to normal operations at U.S. airports comes as the airline industry prepares for the busy Thanksgiving travel period.
State of play: Many air traffic employees worked without pay during the 43-day shutdown and many workers called out sick, resulting in delays to thousands of flights.
- So the FAA cut 4% of air traffic at 40 "high-traffic" U.S. airports on Nov. 7 and increased the number to 6% four days later, before scaling it back to 3% on Friday, citing "improvements in air traffic controller staffing levels."
- FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said in a statement Sunday the agency's "decision to rescind the order reflects the steady decline in staffing concerns across the NAS and allows us to return to normal operations."
Zoom in: Per the FAA, other shutdown-era restrictions that will also end on Monday are:
- Limits on some general aviation operations at 12 airports.
- Limits on some visual flight rule approaches at facilities with staffing triggers.
- Limits on commercial space launches and reentries to the hours between 10pm and 6am local time.
- Limits on parachute operations and photo missions near facilities with staffing triggers.
By the numbers: There were six staffing triggers on Friday, eight on Saturday and one on Sunday, according to the FAA.
- "That's in contrast to a record high of 81 staffing triggers on November 8," it said, noting the current data aligned with staffing conditions before the shutdown.
What they're saying: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in a statement thanked the FAA's safety team "for keeping our skies secure during the longest government shutdown in our nation's history and the country's patience for putting safety first."
- He added: "Now we can refocus our efforts on surging controller hiring and building the brand new, state of the art air traffic control system the American people deserve."
What we're watching: An assessment by aviation analytics firm Cirium that found carriers canceled only 0.25% of flights on Sunday at the 40 airports impacted by the restrictions suggested airlines weren't complying with the FAA restrictions, per Reuters.
- "The FAA is aware of reports of non-compliance by carriers over the course of the emergency order," the agency said in its statement. "The agency is reviewing and assessing enforcement options."
Go deeper: Biden-era plan to compensate passengers for flight delays, cancellations scrapped
Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional details throughout.
