America’s aviation regulator (FAA) announced on Sunday evening that it would end, on Monday, flight cuts decided during budget paralysis to compensate for the absence of air traffic controllers. “This means normal operations can resume throughout the nation’s airspace” starting at 0600 Monday in Washington (1000 GMT), the FAA wrote in a statement.
On November 7, a 10% reduction in domestic flights at the country’s 40 busiest airports was introduced due to a lack of staff in control towers. In the midst of budget paralysis, these civil servants are asked to work without pay. Several thousand flights were canceled before restrictions were gradually eased.
Although the longest “shutdown” in US history ended on Wednesday, the reduction threshold is still set at 3% at the end of this week. But the FAA explained on Sunday that it observed airlines not complying with these quotas. Thanks to the end of these restrictions, “we can now refocus our efforts on the massive recruitment of controllers and implementation of an entirely new air traffic control system,” said US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, quoted in a press release.
The return to normalcy will come just before the big departure for Thanksgiving celebrations, a family event that Americans should not miss on November 27th. The number of air passengers is expected to reach a record high.
