Aviation Authority Resumes Full Flight Operations
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has decided to stop the emergency flight cuts starting Monday at 6 a.m. ET. This move means that flights will go back to normal after weeks of delays and cancellations.
Background
The FAA first put these cuts in place on Nov. 7. They started with a 4% reduction in flights at 40 major airports. The goal was to help air traffic controllers who were dealing with fatigue and staffing problems during the government shutdown.
Improvements
The FAA says staffing levels have improved since the government shutdown ended on Wednesday. They also noted a drop in staffing-trigger events, which are issues that happen when there aren't enough controllers. For example, there were only six triggers on Friday, eight on Saturday, and one on Sunday. This is a big improvement from the 81 triggers reported on Nov. 8.
Additional Restrictions
The FAA is also ending other restrictions, like:
- Some visual flight rules
- Limits on commercial space launches
- Limits on parachute operations
They mentioned that some airlines did not follow the emergency order and are now reviewing the situation. It is still unclear what penalties these airlines might face.
Flight Reductions
The FAA had planned to increase flight reductions to 10% by Friday. However, they froze the cuts at 6% on Wednesday due to improved staffing levels and fewer call-outs from air traffic controllers. By Friday, they further reduced the cuts to 3%.
Future Focus
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that aviation officials can now focus on:
- Hiring more air traffic controllers
- Building a new, advanced air traffic control system
