The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean P. Duffy have updated their outlooks on 2025 Thanksgiving travel post the official end of the country’s longest-ever government shutdown.
The FAA updated travelers in a November 16 press release. The government agency shared that starting at 6:00 a.m. November 17, it will no longer enforce its flight reduction mandate. The latter went into effect on November 12 and was implemented at 40 “high traffic airports” nationwide. The authorities said its safety team approved nixing the flight order after reviewing “safety trends and the steady decline of staffing-trigger events in air traffic control facilities.”
The flight reductions mandate was implemented during air traffic controller staffing shortages caused by the government shutdown. In a statement, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford commented on the decision to no longer impose flight reductions. He said it was a reflection of “the steady decline in staffing concerns across the National Airspace System (NAS),” allowing for a “return to normal operations.”
Meanwhile, Secretary Duffy said, “I want to thank the FAA’s dedicated safety team for keeping our skies secure during the longest government shutdown in our nation’s history and the country’s patience for putting safety first. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, controllers have returned to their posts and normal operations can resume.”
“Now 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,” Duffy added.
What Else Is There To Know About The FAA Scrapping Its Flight Reduction Order?
The FAA highlighted that air traffic controllers have steadily been returning to their posts since the shutdown ended. The news from the transportation officials comes as the American Automobile Association (AAA) shared timely predictions for 2025 Thanksgiving travel.
On November 17, AAA shared its prediction that 6.07 million people will hit the skies between Tuesday, November 25, and Monday, December 1 — this year’s Thanksgiving travel period. However, the source mentioned that the “figure could end up being slightly lower, as some air travelers make other plans following recent flight cancellations.” The estimated figure represents a 2.1% increase over the 2024 estimated number of air travelers for the holiday.
Overall, AAA predicts a record-breaking 81.8 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home across various modes of transportation during this year’s Thanksgiving travel period.
Back in late October, CNN reported that Vice President JD Vance commented on what this year’s Thanksgiving air travel might look like if the shutdown did not end by then. At that time, he reportedly stated, “It could be a disaster … That’s going to lead to massive delays. We want people to be able to get home for Thanksgiving. We want people to be able to travel for business.”
