The leaders of the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on 16 November 2025, that they were ending flight restrictions at 40 airports that were imposed just over a week ago during the government shutdown, citing improved staffing levels among air traffic controllers. They said the FAA’s safety team had recommended the return to normal operations, which would begin 17 November 2025. The decision “reflects the steady decline in staffing concerns,” the FAA administrator said. But according to new numbers from the aviation data company Cirium, most of the airports that were subject to the flight restrictions had not been in full compliance with them for days. Source