US travel update: FAA lifts flight restrictions after government shutdown ends; major airports return to normal Monday

Representative image (Picture credit: AP)

The Federal Aviation Administration will lift all flight-reduction orders at 40 major airports from Monday, allowing airlines to return to normal operations after weeks of shutdown-triggered disruptions.In a joint statement, transportation secretary Sean Duffy and FAA administrator Bryan Bedford said regular schedules can resume from 6 am EST on Monday.

The FAA had imposed the unprecedented limits from November 7 due to growing staffing shortages at air-traffic control facilities during what AP described as the country’s longest government shutdown.The cuts initially stood at 4%, rising to 6%, before being reduced to 3% on Friday as staffing improved following the shutdown’s end on November 12, according to news agency AP.

Major hubs in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta were among those affected.

Cancellations fell to their lowest point this weekend, with aviation analytics firm Cirium showing fewer than 1% of flights cancelled.The FAA said its safety team recommended lifting the order after “detailed reviews of safety trends and the steady decline of staffing-trigger events.” However, it noted reports of carrier non-compliance during the emergency period and said enforcement options were being assessed.The worst disruption came on November 9, when more than 2,900 flights were cut due to the FAA order, controller shortages and severe weather, reported AP.

Controllers, who worked without pay during the 43-day shutdown, had missed two paychecks.According to NBC News, staffing levels have now “stabilised,” enabling the emergency order to end.

Staffing-trigger events dropped sharply—from 81 on November 8 to just one on Sunday.

Other restrictions, such as limits on visual flight rule approaches and commercial space launches, will also end.Under the original emergency order, reductions were set to climb to 10%, but officials froze them at 6% on Wednesday before scaling them down to 3% on Friday.

Duffy said the agency can now “refocus” on controller hiring and building a “state-of-the-art air traffic control system the American people deserve.”