WASHINGTON, D.C.  - U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Bryan Bedford today announced that the agency’s flight reduction emergency order will be terminated on Monday, November 17 at 6 a.m. This means normal operations can resume across the National Airspace System (NAS).
 
The FAA safety team recommended the termination of the order following their detailed reviews of safety trends and the steady decline of staffing-trigger events in air traffic control facilities.
 
“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,” said Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “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 to return to normal operations,” said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford. “I am grateful for the hard work of the FAA safety and operations teams and for their focus on the safety of the traveling public.”
 
Staffing levels have continued to snap back into place since the end of the government shutdown. The positive trend line continued over the weekend, with six staffing triggers on Friday, November 14, eight on Saturday, November 15, and only one staffing trigger on Sunday, November 16. That’s in contrast to a record high of 81 staffing triggers on November 8. The current data aligns with staffing conditions before the shutdown. 
 
The following restrictions will also end:

• Limits on some general aviation operations at 12 airports
• Limits on some visual flight rule approaches at facilities with staffing triggers
• Limits on commercial space launches and reentries to the hours between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. local time
• Limits on parachute operations and photo missions near facilities with staffing triggers

 
The FAA is aware of reports of non-compliance by carriers over the course of the emergency order. The agency is reviewing and assessing enforcement options.