Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Wednesday issued an emergency order to freeze flight reductions, keeping the 6 percent reduction in place.
The emergency order, issued by Duffy and FAA administrator Bryan Bedford, came following “a recommendations from the agency’s safety team,” according to a statement. The current reduction level will stay in place “as the FAA continues to assess whether the system can gradually return to normal operations.”
Flight reductions were implemented last week as a measure to keep travelers, airport employees, and airports safe amid staffing shortages. Flight reductions were previously expected increase to 8 percent and 10 percent set for 6 a.m. on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
The order also remains in effect for the 40 “high impact” airports across the country.
“There has been a rapid decline in controller callouts, with only eleven staffing triggers on Tuesday, November 11 and four staffing triggers today from a high of 81 on November 8,” the statement read. “Such strong staffing levels suggest a further ramp up in-flight reductions are not necessary to keep the traveling public safe. As the federal government reopens and controllers receive their backpay, the FAA will continue to monitor staffing levels and review key trend lines.”
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The FAA safety team “is encouraged to see our air traffic control staffing surge, and they feel comfortable with pausing the reduction schedule to give us time to review the airspace,” Duffy said in a statement.
Should staffing numbers improve, the FAA safety team will determine on resuming to normal flight operations.
