The Federal Aviation Administration announced on Nov. 16 that it is ending all restrictions on commercial flights at 40 major U.S. airports that had been imposed as a result of air traffic control safety concerns amid the longest government shutdown in history.
In a news release on Nov. 16, the FAA said its flight-reduction emergency order will be lifted on Nov. 17 at 6 a.m. ET and normal operations can resume across the National Airspace System. The agency noted that its safety team recommended rescinding the order after reviewing safety trends and the “steady decline of staffing-trigger events in air traffic control facilities.”
“I want to thank the FAA’s dedicated 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,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement. “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.”
The announcement came after the FAA ordered a 3% reduction in operations through the weekend, down from 6% as the government shutdown ended. Cancellations had been scheduled to increase if the shutdown dragged on and air traffic controller shortages worsened.
Aviation analytics company Cirium reports even lower disruptions on Nov. 16, with a 0.25% cancellation rate and 91% on-time departures across the 40 impacted airports. It notes that that’s below average for cancellations and above average for departure performance.
Some 13,000 air traffic controllers were forced to work without pay for more than a month, overstretching already overworked and understaffed air traffic controllers. Federal authorities reported an uptick in air traffic controller absences, with many calling out due to stress and financial pressure, since the shutdown started on Oct. 1.
Air traffic control staffing shortages, along with weather issues, have led to tens of thousands of flight cancellations and delays since Oct. 1. Flight disruptions began to improve as Congress reached a deal to end the shutdown after surpassing over 10,000 delays and more than 2,900 cancellations on Nov. 9, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking website.
(This story has been updated with new information.)
