FAA lifts order slashing flights, allowing commercial airlines to resume their regular schedules

Summary: The Federal Aviation Administration says it is lifting all restrictions on commercial flights that were imposed during the government shutdown at 40 major U.S. airports. The agency said Sunday airlines can resume normal flight schedules beginning Monday at 6 a.m. EST. The unprecedented order had been in place since Nov. 7 and affected thousands of flights. The FAA said it was necessary to ease the strain on the aviation system and help manage staffing shortages at its air traffic control facilities during the shutdown. The flight cuts started at 4% as the shutdown entered its second month and later grew to 6% before the FAA on Friday rolled back the restrictions to 3%.