FAA lifts shutdown-related flight limits for busiest U.S. airports, including MSP

With the busy Thanksgiving travel season fast approaching, airlines are free to fully restore scheduled flights at the nation’s 40 busiest airports, including Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), after the federal government terminated its restrictions effective Monday.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rescinded an emergency safety order, tied to air traffic controller staffing constraints, that had limited air travel by 3% and required airlines to cancel thousands of flights across the nation. Though flight cancellations could have peaked last weekend, the federal government walked back an earlier directive that analysts predicted would lead to mass disruption.

Instead, average cancellations related to the shutdown fell below the government’s 3% threshold over the weekend, according to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company. On Saturday and Sunday, cancellations fell under 0.7%, at or below the typical average.

In a statement late Sunday announcing the end of the restrictions, the FAA said some carriers were not compliant with its order and the agency “is reviewing and assessing enforcement options.” It did not further detail its findings or potential actions.

The decision to slow down U.S. airspace came during the longest federal government shutdown in American history, which required air traffic controllers to work without pay. Federal officials have said the decision was a matter of public safety, based on a review of data by the FAA’s safety and operations teams.

In a statement announcing the end of the FAA mandate, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said attention would turn toward goals that preceded the shutdown, like hiring more air traffic controllers and investing in infrastructure to build a “state of the art air traffic control system the American people deserve.”

The throttling of air travel was attributed to a spike in callouts by air traffic controllers, whose union called for a swift end to the impasse in Washington, D.C., and restoration of their paychecks. The union did not ask the FAA to lessen the workload on its controllers. Two people with field experience told the Minnesota Star Tribune the impact of a 10% slower airspace would be minimal.

An analysis from Airlines for America, an industry group for major airlines, recorded a worsening cancellation rate attributed to air traffic controller issues. For example, on Nov. 9, of the 1,704 cancellations across the nation, 819 stemmed from the FAA-mandated orders and another 885 were tied to further staffing delays.

Delta Air Lines, the dominant airline at MSP, led its major airline peers on Nov. 8-9 in its national rate of cancellations, cutting 925 flights, or roughly 10% of its schedule, over those two days.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian said last week the challenges with federal staffing had led to more than 2,000 cancellations for the airline. He predicted Delta would recover quickly.

“I think we’ll be back a lot faster than people think,” he said on CBS News.

Minnesota-based Sun Country Airlines, the second-most-traveled carrier at MSP, has said its flight schedule should return to normal over this week.

Kyle Potter, executive editor at ThriftyTraveler, said on Monday that air travel had fortunately returned largely to business as usual, though he said the strains over the shutdown demonstrate unpredictability. He said anyone traveling through the holiday should keep their “head on a swivel,” paying attention to headlines and updated schedules on flight-tracking websites like FlightAware.

Though the end of the mandate gives airlines more wiggle room to operate, Potter said a hanging question is how many air traffic controllers the nation lost during the shutdown.

In a statement Monday, trade group Airlines for America welcomed an end to the FAA’s mandate.