The Federal Aviation Administration will end its emergency flight reduction order on Monday, meaning flights will resume normal operations, officials announced Sunday.
The emergency order will officially be lifted on Monday at 6 a.m. ET, ending reductions that caused mass cancellations and delays at airports.
The cuts, which began with a 4% reduction in flights at 40 major airports on Nov. 7, were designed to address fatigue and staffing issues among air traffic controllers amid the record-long government shutdown.
It is being reduced now that staffing levels have “stabilized” with the government shutdown ending Wednesday, the FAA said.
The decision to lift the order was made following an FAA review of “safety trends” and due to “the continued decline in triggering staffing events at air traffic control facilities,” aviation officials said in a news release Sunday.
Only six staffing triggers were reported on Friday, eight on Saturday and one on Sunday, a dramatic improvement from the record 81 staffing triggers recorded on November 8.
Other restrictions that were in place will also end, including some approaches to visual flight rules, limits on commercial space launches and parachute operations.
Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said aviation officials can now “refocus” their efforts on hiring more air traffic controllers and “building the new, modern air traffic control system the American people deserve.”
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