The U.S. government lowered the percentage of flights airlines must cut across 40 major airports, easing the burden on carriers recovering from the chaos of the government shutdown as they head into the weekend.
The Transportation Department and Federal Aviation Administration announced November 14 that airlines would be required to cut 3% of domestic flights at the airports, rather than the current level of 6%. The new rate kicks in on November 15, they said.
The government mandated the flight reductions toward the end of the longest federal funding lapse in U.S. history, citing safety concerns and air traffic controller staffing shortages.
The Transportation Department and the FAA said on November 14 that they were able to lower the rate because of positive trends in controller staffing.
They also said the 3% rate “will remain in place while the FAA monitors system performance throughout the weekend and evaluates whether normal operations can resume.”
The decision comes the same day Democrats in Congress sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford demanding the original safety data and risk assessments behind the flight reductions.
The cuts first went into effect on November 7, at a rate of 4%, and were supposed to slowly increase to 10% by November 14. However, the government froze the rate at 6% November 12, shortly before President Donald Trump signed legislation to end the government shutdown.
Duffy and Bedford have said reducing flight capacity was needed to alleviate strain on air traffic controllers, who were working without pay during the shutdown. They said the FAA assessed safety data, including reports from pilots on controller responsiveness, when making the decision.
But air safety regulators haven’t publicly offered any of the specific findings or numbers, despite some airline executives and lawmakers seeking that information.
