Expand<\/a><\/p>\nAfter a week and a half of flight cancellations across the Bay Area, the skyways are returning to normal after the Federal Aviation Administration lifted its flight reductions beginning Monday morning.<\/p>\n
The FAA announced Sunday that it was lifting its previous mandate that air traffic be reduced by 10% due to air traffic controller fatigue, citing a safety review and \u201csteady decline of staffing-trigger events in air traffic control facilities,\u201d according to a statement from the agency. Operations returned to normal on Monday at 6 a.m.<\/p>\n
The air traffic reduction, which began Nov. 7, largely\u00a0impacted 40 high-traffic airports across the country, including San Francisco International Airport and Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport. As the reductions went on, the\u00a0impacts trickled to San Jose Mineta International Airport as well, which saw flight cancellations after incoming flights from other airports were canceled.<\/p>\n
At SFO Monday, flight traffic was \u201creturning to more normal numbers,\u201d said Doug Yakel, airport spokesperson. As of Monday afternoon, the airport had seen only three cancellations, which is \u201cvery typical, especially on a rainy day.\u201d<\/p>\n
The airport also had 145 delays \u2014 impacting about 12% of flights \u2014 but Yakel attributed those to the weather. Delays were averaging about 16 minutes.<\/p>\n
OAK experienced no cancellations both Sunday and Monday, said Kaley Skantz, public information officer for the Oakland airport. The airport also had \u201cvery few delays to report.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOperations at Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport are running smoothly today,\u201d Skantz said.<\/p>\n
At SJC, there were no flight cancellations Monday, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile SJC experienced minimal disruption during the FAA\u2019s temporary flight-reduction order, we\u2019re pleased it has now been lifted and operations are fully back to normal,\u201d said Julie Jarratt, public information manager for SJC. \u201cWe are grateful to our federal partners \u2014 especially TSA and FAA staff \u2014 whose dedication kept passengers safe and supported throughout the shutdown.\u201d<\/p>\n
Comparatively, on the first day of flight reductions,\u00a0SFO had 90 canceled flights and OAK saw around a dozen cancellations.<\/p>\n
Airlines, too, reaffirmed the return to normalcy Monday, with many reassuring travelers that Thanksgiving travel is set to go smoothly.<\/p>\n
Chris Perry, spokesperson for Southwest Airlines, said that the airline operated with a full schedule Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look forward to taking our customers where they want to go for the holidays,\u201d Perry said.<\/p>\n
Erik Snell, chief customer experience officer for Delta, said in a statement Saturday that the airline is prepared for next week\u2019s holiday travel.<\/p>\n
\u201cRest assured, our operations are running normally, and Delta people remain dedicated to safely delivering the premium, reliable experiences you expect \u2013 the same qualities that carried us through even the most challenging times, including the longest government shutdown in history,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
United Airlines has also returned to its full flight capacity, the airline\u2019s CEO Scott Kirby wrote on LinkedIn.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you to our customers for your patience as all airlines worked through these recent reductions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0flight reductions were attributed to air traffic controller fatigue during the government shutdown, as staffers worked unpaid \u2014 with many working mandatory overtime \u2014 for more than a month. Staffing shortages at airports across the country resulted in delays as controllers called out of work due to frustration or took on second jobs to make ends meet.<\/p>\n
The government shutdown\u00a0ended last week after a record 43 days when President Donald Trump signed a funding bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to thank the FAA\u2019s dedicated safety team for keeping our skies secure during the longest government shutdown in our nation\u2019s history and the country\u2019s patience for putting safety first. Thanks to President Trump\u2019s leadership, controllers have returned to their posts and normal operations can resume,\u201d Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said in a statement. \u201cNow we can refocus our efforts on surging controller hiring and building the brand new, state of the art air traffic control system the American people deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
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