Flights in the United States will return to regular schedules after the Federal Aviation Administration ended caps put in place during the government shutdown. The FAA said airlines may resume normal timetables from 6am Eastern Time (11:00 GMT) on Monday.
The agency had imposed reductions at 40 major airports following reports that air traffic controllers were fatigued and that some had refused to work. Those measures contributed to thousands of cancellations and widespread delays across the network.
President Donald Trump signed legislation on Wednesday to restore government funding, bringing a six-week shutdown to an end. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the decision to lift the restrictions reflected a steady decline in staffing concerns.
The FAA reported that staffing triggers — instances when available controllers fell below safe levels — dropped from 81 on November 8 to six on Friday, eight on Saturday and one on Sunday.
Under the emergency order, airlines were initially required to cut flights by 4 percent by November 7 and by 6 percent by November 10. As controller availability improved, officials reduced that cap to 3 percent on Friday.
The FAA said it is reviewing and assessing enforcement options after reports that some carriers did not fully follow the mandated reductions. Flight tracking site FlightAware recorded 315 cancellations on Saturday and 149 on Sunday.