A collective sigh of relief echoed through airports recently as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced the lifting of restrictions on commercial flights. These limitations had been causing significant disruptions at 40 major airports, including busy hubs like Chicago's O'Hare and Midway International Airports. After being in effect since November 7 due to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, the order was rescinded, allowing airlines to return to their regular flight schedules as of 5 a.m. CST on Monday, according to CBS Chicago.
Flying under the shadow of this government shutdown, the FAA initially cut flights by 4% escalating to 6%, before reducing cuts to 3% last Friday, as staffing at air traffic control facilities began to improve. Travelers, in their hopes to return to normalcy, were still advised to brace for possible disruptions during one of the busiest travel seasons of the year. "I think the things we should be looking out for are weather-related incidents that could kind of throw the system out of whack, or outages," Brian Kelly, Founder of The Points Guy, told CBS Chicago.
According to data from the flight tracking website FlightAware, cited by AP News, Sunday saw 149 flights cut and 315 cancellations on Saturday. This reduction was still well below the FAA's 3% target for the weekend flights, suggesting a significant turnaround since the government shutdown ended on November 12. The hard-hit airports, including major centers in New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, now anticipate a gradual return to the pre-shutdown bustle.
The lifting of these restrictions came after a "detailed reviews of safety trends and the steady decline of staffing-trigger events in air traffic control facilities," as stated by the FAA. Unfortunately, marred by staffing shortages during the shutdown, there were reports during the shutdown of planes getting too close in the air and increased runway incursions, which had initially necessitated the reduction, mentioned by Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy, according to an AP News release. Despite the end of the FAA's order, travelers such as Katie Fish, a businessperson on her way to Honolulu, still carried concerns, saying to CBS Chicago, "I was a bit concerned. I'm a busy businessperson, so I did not have a lot of time to look into these things and thought this morning, 'Is everything going to be ok?'"
With Thanksgiving on the horizon, the lift is timed perfectly for the 6 million Americans that AAA expects to fly, as reported by CBS Chicago. Airline leaders have shared their optimism that operations will pick up just in time for the holiday rush. However, experts still recommend passengers make use of airline apps to check for any last-minute weather or operational delays before heading to the airport.
