The Federal Aviation Administration announced Sunday it is lifting all restrictions on commercial flights that were imposed at 40 major airports during the country’s longest government shutdown.
Airlines can resume their regular flight schedules beginning Monday at 6 a.m. EST, the agency stated.
The announcement was made in a joint statement by Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford.
Citing safety concerns as staffing shortages intensified at air traffic control facilities during the shutdown, the FAA issued an unprecedented order to limit traffic in the skies. It had been in place since 7 November, affecting thousands of flights across the country.
Impacted airports included large hubs in New York, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Atlanta.
The flight cuts started at 4% and later increased to 6% before the FAA on Friday reduced the restrictions back to 3%, citing continued improvements in air traffic controller staffing since the record 43-day shutdown concluded.
The statement indicated the FAA “is aware of reports of non-compliance by carriers over the course of the emergency order. The agency is reviewing and assessing enforcement options.” It did not elaborate.
Cancellations reached their highest point on 9 November, when airlines cut more than 2,900 flights because of the FAA order, ongoing controller shortages, and severe weather in parts of the country. However, conditions began to improve throughout the week as more controllers returned to work amid news that Congress was close to a deal to end the shutdown. That progress also prompted the FAA to pause plans for further rate increases.
The agency had initially aimed for a 10% reduction in flights. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has stated worrisome safety data showed the move was necessary to ease pressure on the aviation system and help manage worsening staffing shortages at air traffic control facilities as the shutdown entered its second month and flight disruptions began accumulating.
Air traffic controllers were amongst the federal employees who had to continue working without pay throughout the shutdown. They missed two paycheques during the impasse.
Duffy has not shared the specific safety data that prompted the cuts, but he cited reports during the shutdown of planes getting too close in the air, more runway incursions, and pilot concerns about controllers’ responses.
Airline leaders have expressed optimism that operations would rebound in time for the Thanksgiving travel period after the FAA lifted its order.
The unprecedented FAA order to limit commercial flight operations at 40 major airports during the government shutdown represents an extraordinary intervention in the aviation system, reflecting how federal workforce disruptions during the record 43-day shutdown threatened the safety margins that underpin the world’s most complex air traffic control network.
The progressive escalation of flight restrictions from 4% to 6% before scaling back to 3% and ultimately lifting all limitations illustrates the FAA’s dynamic risk assessment as conditions evolved during the shutdown. The initial 4% reduction represented a relatively modest intervention aimed at creating operational breathing room for understaffed control facilities, but the subsequent increase to 6% signalled deteriorating conditions as the shutdown extended and controllers’ fatigue, stress, and financial pressures mounted.
The 7 November implementation date for flight restrictions, occurring more than a month into the shutdown, suggests the FAA initially hoped controllers could maintain normal operations despite working without pay but ultimately concluded safety margins were eroding to unacceptable levels. The delay between shutdown commencement and restriction implementation reflects the difficult balance regulators faced between maintaining transportation system functionality and protecting safety as workforce conditions deteriorated.
The impact on major hubs including New York, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Atlanta created cascading disruptions throughout the national aviation network. These airports function as critical nodes in hub-and-spoke systems where airlines concentrate connecting traffic, meaning reductions at these facilities ripple outward affecting flights to smaller cities dependent on connections through major hubs. A cancelled or delayed Seattle flight doesn’t just affect Seattle passengers but also those connecting to Spokane, Boise, or dozens of other destinations served primarily through Seattle connections.
The 9 November peak of more than 2,900 cancelled flights represents approximately 25% of typical daily US airline operations, a disruption level normally associated only with severe weather events affecting multiple regions simultaneously. The combination of FAA-mandated reductions, ongoing controller shortages, and adverse weather created a perfect storm of operational challenges that overwhelmed airlines’ capacity to maintain schedules whilst accommodating displaced passengers.
