Positive Safety Trends, Decline In Staffing-Trigger Events Prompt Move

Department of Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford announced that the FAA Emergency Order reducing flight numbers has been terminated as of 6 am on Monday, November 17, and normal operations are permitted to resume across the National Airspace System.

The FAA safety team recommended the termination based on its detailed review of safety trends as well as the steady drop in staffing-trigger events at air traffic control facilities.

Secretary Duffy said, “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. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, controllers have returned to their posts and normal operations can resume. 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.”

Administrator Bedford said, “Today’s decision to rescind the order reflects the steady decline in staffing concerns across the NAS and allows us to return to normal operations. I am grateful for the hard work of the FAA safety and operations teams and for their focus on the safety of the traveling public.”

Since the end of the government shutdown, staffing levels have continued to return to normal. The trend continued positive over the weekend with six triggers on Friday November 14, eight on Saturday, and just one on Sunday November 16. The highest number of staffing triggers was recorded on November 8 with 81. The current data are in alignment with staffing levels prior to the shutdown.

In addition to the termination of commercial flight reductions, the other restrictions were also terminated. Those include general aviation operations at 12 large hub airports, VFR approaches at facilities with staffing triggers, commercial space launches during certain hours, and parachute and photo missions near facilities with staffing triggers.

FMI:  www.transportation.gov/ , www.faa.gov/