FAA to end mandated cuts in domestic US flights

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By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Federal Aviation Administration late Sunday said it would end mandated cuts in domestic flights at 40 major U.S. airports effective at 6 a.m. ET (1000 GMT) Monday, easing restrictions that had been imposed over air traffic control concerns during the federal shutdown.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the decision “reflects the steady decline in staffing concerns.” The FAA also removed restrictions on space launches and general aviation flights at some airports.

Airlines had been expecting the move. Several major airlines told Reuters on condition of anonymity that they had not canceled any flights for Monday and were not planning to do so.

Airlines for America, a trade group representing American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and others, declined to comment.

Late Friday, the FAA halved the flight-cut requirement from 6% to 3%, although airlines have not been complying with the requirements anyway. Carriers on Sunday canceled just 0.25% of flights at those 40 airports — less than normal cancellations — according to Cirium, an aviation analytics firm.

Cirium said the overall cancellation rate for the United States was just 0.36% Sunday and viewed it as a sign that operations are returning to normal.

But that was far below what the FAA had mandated, and the agency said on Sunday it was “aware of reports of non-compliance by carriers over the course of the emergency order. The agency is reviewing and assessing enforcement options.”

The order said the FAA could seek a fine of up to $75,000 for every flight operated above the mandated limits.

FAA officials originally aimed for a gradual increase in reductions to 10% of domestic flights, but they opted on November 12 to freeze that requirement at 6% after disruptions declined dramatically as the federal shutdown came to an end.

The agency originally ordered flight cuts to minimize travel disruptions caused by shortages of air traffic controllers during the federal shutdown, when many of them stopped coming to work because they were not being paid.

The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels. Many had been working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks even before the shutdown led to them working without pay.

Absences of air traffic controllers led to tens of thousands of flight cancellations and delays after October 1, when the shutdown began.

On Friday, two days after a 43-day record setting government shutdown ended, air traffic controllers and other FAA employees began receiving back pay equal to about 70% of what they are owed.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Diane Craft)