The Federal Aviation Administration announced on Nov. 16 that it is ending all restrictions on commercial flights at 40 major U.S. airports that had been imposed as a result of air traffic control safety concerns amid the longest government shutdown in history.

In a news release on Nov. 16, the FAA said its flight-reduction emergency order will be lifted on Nov. 17 at 6 a.m. ET and normal operations can resume across the National Airspace System. The agency also removed restrictions on space launches and general aviation flights at 12 airports.

The FAA noted that its safety team recommended rescinding the order after reviewing 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," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement. "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."

The announcement came after the FAA ordered a 3% reduction in operations through the weekend, down from 6% as the government shutdown ended. Cancellations had been scheduled to increase if the shutdown dragged on and air traffic controller shortages worsened.

Aviation analytics company Cirium reported even lower disruptions on Nov. 16, with a 0.25% cancellation rate and 91% on-time departures across the 40 impacted airports. It notes that that's below average for cancellations and above average for departure performance.

In its announcement, the FAA said it was "aware of reports of non-compliance by carriers over the course of the emergency order." The agency said it was reviewing and assessing enforcement options.

Air traffic controller staffing levels continue to 'snap back into place'

Some 13,000 air traffic controllers were forced to work without pay for more than a month, overstretching already overworked and understaffed air traffic controllers. Federal authorities reported an uptick in air traffic controller absences, with many calling out due to stress and financial pressure, since the shutdown started on Oct. 1.

Air traffic control staffing shortages, along with weather issues, led to tens of thousands of flight cancellations and delays. Flight disruptions began to improve as Congress reached a deal to end the shutdown following more than 10,000 delays and more than 2,900 cancellations on Nov. 9, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking website.

According to the FAA, air traffic controller 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," the agency said in the news release. "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."

(This story has been updated with new information.)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: FAA ends all restrictions on commercial flights at 40 major US airports

Reporting by Thao Nguyen and Eve Chen, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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