FAA Lifts Flight Restrictions After Shutdown, Normal Operations Resume

U.S air travel is set to resume normal operations this morning (November 17) after the FAA lifted all restrictions put in place during the longest-ever government shutdown.

The FAA had cancelled thousands of flights across 40 major airports during the 43-day shutdown for safety reasons as air traffic control towers struggled to operate with diminishing crew.

In a news release issued Sunday night (November 16), U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Bryan Bedford said the FAA safety team recommended the termination of the order following their detailed reviews of 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. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, controllers have returned to their posts and normal operations can resume,” said Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “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.”
 
“Today’s decision to rescind the order reflects the steady decline in staffing concerns across the NAS and allows us to return to normal operations,” said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford. “I am grateful for the hard work of the FAA safety and operations teams and for their focus on the safety of the traveling public.”

Meanwhile in Canada, weather caused havoc for passengers in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary as Air Canada, WestJet, Porter, Jazz and other carriers faced 16 cancellations and 103 delays.

An estimated 5.2 million passengers have been affected by staffing-related delays or cancellations since the government shutdown began October 1.