The Federal Aviation Administration lifted its emergency flight restrictions Monday morning, restoring normal operations across the National Airspace System after air traffic controller staffing levels rebounded following the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

The cancellation order, which took effect at 6 a.m. EST on November 17, removes all operating limitations imposed under the November 12 emergency order, including a 3 percent reduction in flights at 40 major airports and restrictions on general aviation, commercial space launches, and certain air traffic control services.

The FAA initially issued an emergency order on November 7 requiring air carriers to reduce scheduled domestic flights at affected airports, with reductions planned to escalate from 4 percent to 10 percent. The 40 impacted airports included major hubs such as Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, New York’s JFK, Los Angeles International, and Chicago O’Hare.​

Additional restrictions prohibited some visual flight rule approaches, limited commercial space launches to overnight hours between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., and banned parachute operations and photo missions near understaffed facilities.​

As government appropriations were restored and controllers began receiving back pay, staffing conditions rapidly improved. The FAA adjusted its emergency order on November 12 to reduce the required flight cuts to 6 percent, then further lowered them to 3 percent on November 14 as staffing triggers declined sharply.

By the weekend before the cancellation, staffing triggers had dropped to single digits—six on Friday, eight on Saturday, and just one on Sunday—numbers consistent with pre-shutdown conditions.