The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced the end of air travel restrictions due to the government shutdown and confirmed that, starting Monday, normal operations will resume in the National Airspace System (NAS).
The DOT and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) measure ends the reduction of operations at 40 airports announced on November 5 by the Donald Trump administration due to the prolonged government shutdown that began on October 1.
Flight Reductions Ended
The 43-day federal government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, strained the shortage of air traffic controllers and led to cuts of up to 6% of flights at those airports, including cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Washington, and New York.
Airlines were already expecting this move. Several major carriers told Reuters, on condition of anonymity, that they had not canceled any flights for Monday and did not plan to do so.
“Skies Remained Safe During Government Shutdown”
Airlines for America, a trade association representing American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and others, declined to comment.
Officials decided to end these flight reductions, driven by the absence of air traffic controllers due to lack of pay, after the FAA completed safety reviews that showed a decrease in risk incidents, according to a DOT statement.
“I want to thank the FAA team for keeping our skies safe during the longest government shutdown in our nation’s history and the country’s patience for putting safety first,” said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
Image: DiarioNY
