(MENAFN- Live Mint) US airlines will resume normal operations on Monday following government-mandated flight cutbacks. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Department of Transportation lifted cuts at 40 major airports due to improved staffing levels following the end of the government shutdown, Bloomberg reported.

On Sunday, the Transportation Department and the FAA announced that they would lift restrictions at 40 major US airports starting at 6 a.m. Monday, New York time. On Friday, officials reduced the flight cuts from 6% to a cap of 3%.

“Today's decision to rescind the order reflects the steady decline in staffing concerns across the national airspace system and allows us to return to normal operations,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said in the statement.

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The announcement comes days after US President Donald Trump signed a funding bill, ending a historic 43-day shutdown that left federal workers unpaid, stranded travellers at airports, and caused long lines at food banks, PTI reported.

Impact of shutdown on US airlines

The flight cuts first came into effect on November 7 at a 4% rate and were expected to gradually rise to 10% by November 14. However, the government stopped the increase at 6% on Wednesday, just before President Donald Trump signed legislation to end the longest federal shutdown in US history.

Bedford and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that cutting flight capacity was essential to lessen the burden on air traffic controllers, who were working unpaid during the shutdown, Bloomberg reported.

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Staffing levels have continued to“snap back” into place since the shutdown ended, they stated. The positive trend persisted over the weekend, with six staffing triggers on Friday, eight on Saturday, and only one on Sunday. This contrasts with a record high of 81 staffing triggers on Nov. 8, according to the statement.

Even before the order was lifted, data from aviation analytics firm Cirium suggests that airlines did not cancel all the flights required by the government over the weekend.

Cirium noted that only 0.25% of flights were cancelled on Sunday at the 40 airports affected by the FAA's order. The ending of the emergency order also removes restrictions on general aviation operators at certain airports, the report said.

Several leaders in the United States aviation industry had previously urged Congress to end the shutdown due to concerns about air traffic controllers working without pay, especially ahead of the busy holiday season, according to a report by Fortune.

The aviation industry remained a key focus during the government shutdown, with over 13,000 air traffic controllers, regarded as essential workers, working without pay. This heightened the stress on employees who have been dealing with a staffing shortage for more than a decade. Before the shutdown, 91% of US air traffic control centres operated below the Federal Aviation Administration's recommended staffing levels. During the shutdown, many controllers worked six-day weeks, often exceeding 60 hours.

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