Starting 6 a.m. Eastern Time (11 a.m. GMT) on Monday, airlines can return to their regular schedules, the FAA said in a Sunday statement, following the removal of an emergency order that had cut flight numbers

By Asaye Bankole

U.S. flights are expected to resume normal operations after the Federal Aviation Administration announced it’s ending the flight‑restriction order that was imposed during the government shutdown.

Starting 6 a.m. Eastern Time (11 a.m. GMT) on Monday, airlines can return to their regular schedules, the FAA said in a Sunday statement, following the removal of an emergency order that had cut flight numbers.

The FAA ordered flight reductions at 40 major airports during the government shutdown to protect safety after reports that air‑traffic controllers were fatigued and not showing up for work.

Those restrictions caused thousands of flights to be cancelled and many more to be delayed. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed a bill that restored government funding and ended the six‑week shutdown, resolving the Republican‑Democratic standoff.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford noted that lifting the order reflected a “steady decline in staffing concerns.” Staffing‑trigger events situations where the number of controllers fell below safe levels fell sharply from 81 on November 8 to six on Friday, eight on Saturday, and just one on Sunday.

Initially, airlines were required to cut flights by 4 percent by November 7 and 6 percent by November 10, and officials later reduced the requirement.

In its Sunday statement, the FAA said it was also “reviewing and assessing enforcement options” after reports that airlines had not complied with the emergency order in recent days.

Only 149 flights were canceled on Sunday, according to flight‑tracking site FlightAware, far fewer than the 3 percent cut required by the FAA.

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