The Federal Aviation Administration is lifting mandatory nationwide flight cutbacks this morning, allowing commercial airlines at 40 major airports — including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International — to resume normal operations after more than a month of delays and cancellations caused by the government shutdown.
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The FAA says the order officially ends at 6 a.m., clearing the way for airlines to return to full schedules. Operations at Hartsfield-Jackson were already improving overnight, and airport leaders say they expect traffic to continue normalizing as the busy holiday travel season begins.
In a joint statement, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Brian Bedford said the agency’s safety team recommended ending the restrictions “following a detailed review of safety trends and the steady decline of staffing trigger events at air traffic control facilities.”
The flight reductions began at 4% on Nov. 7 and were expected to climb to 10% by Nov. 14 before Congress passed a bill to reopen the government. Over the weekend, delays and cancellations fell to below 3%, signaling improvement ahead of Thanksgiving travel.
Travelers at Atlanta’s airport said they’re relieved the disruptions are ending.
“I’m glad that it ended before Thanksgiving. I’ve got family coming into town,” one traveler told FOX 5.
Airlines say they are optimistic they will be fully operational in time for what is expected to be a record season, with 31 million passengers projected to fly during the upcoming holiday period.
