Air traffic control services in the US are returning to normal after cutbacks in staffing levels were reversed following new legislation by American lawmakers.
There were thousands of flight delays last week in the US as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was forced to reduce air traffic controllers’ hours by 10 per cent due to US public sector budget cuts.
But late last week both houses of the US Congress passed emergency legislation to allow the FAA to redirect $253 million of its airport improvement budget to fund staffing and operations instead.
The FAA said the suspension of these staffing cuts, known in the US as furloughs, meant that the ATC system could return to normal operations by Sunday (April 28) evening.
The furloughs were introduced on April 21 and caused hundreds of flight delays every day last week around the US, particularly at major airports such as the three main New York gateways (JFK, Newark and La Guardia) and Chicago’s O’Hare.
The issue was one of the main talking points at last week’s ACTE global conference in New York City.
faa.gov