The longest government shutdown in U.S. history came to an end on Wednesday night, but flight disruptions are expected to continue for days as the air traffic system returns to normal operations.

The shutdown led to thousands of flight delays and cancellations across the country due to staffing shortages at airports as air traffic controllers went unpaid for weeks. Citing safety concerns, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced last week a 10% cut in flights at 40 major airports.

But on Wednesday, as the deal to end the shutdown moved toward its final passage, the U.S. Department of Transportation said that flight reductions at those airports will remain at 6%, rather than increasing to 10% as planned, because more air traffic controllers are going into work.

The Federal Avi

See Full Page