Federal Funding Restored, Airlines, Airports Prepare for Holiday Travel

The US government shutdown has ended after 43 days, with the House of Representatives voting to approve a funding bill that will reopen federal agencies through January 30, 2026. The FAA will begin lifting capacity restrictions on a rolling basis as controller staffing recovers, but airlines and airports expect residual delays to continue for several days. The shutdown’s end marks the end of the longest federal funding lapse in US history, restoring pay to hundreds of thousands of federal workers, including air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration personnel. The Aviation Information Management System (AIMS) will also be restored, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will resume normal operations. The funding bill’s passage reduces the immediate risk of further operational instability, but the possibility of another shutdown early next year remains. The FAA Administrator, Bryan Bedford, said the agency will evaluate each affected airport individually and will remove limits only when the system can safely handle full schedules. Airlines have warned customers that residual delays may continue for several days even after the shutdown formally ends. The shutdown affected multiple layers of aviation operations, including security screening, ramp operations, air traffic management, and federal inspections. Normalizing these functions will require coordination across agencies and private operators as employees return to paid duty and schedules adjust. The US Travel Association warned that prolonged shutdown conditions could cause significant disruptions if the system remained constrained into late November. With the funding bill now moving forward, airline executives say they can focus on restoring full schedules and strengthening staffing plans ahead of the holiday surge. Some airports reported that they expect on-time performance to improve steadily as controller staffing stabilizes. However, several airport authorities said it may take up to a week for arrival and departure flows to normalize fully.