Secretary Duffy, FAA Announce Restoration Of ‘Normal Operations,’ Termination Of Emergency Flight Reduction Order

The availability of flights traversing American airspace is returning to normal less than a week after the end of the 43-day government shutdown, the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced Sunday.

DOT Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford announced the cancellation of a Nov. 12 FAA order limiting the number of flights at airports, which itself had replaced the agency’s more stringent Nov. 7 flight reduction order affecting 40 of the nation’s busiest airports. The new order took effect Monday at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.

The order “cancels all requirements of the November 12 Emergency Order including to reduce operations at certain airports by 3 percent, and restores normal operating levels.”

“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,” Duffy said in the Sunday press release. “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