Washington, November 15 (QNA) - US authorities confirmed the beginning of a recovery in air transportation following the end of the government shutdown that lasted for more than a month, considering yesterday, Friday, to be one of the best days for aviation in the country since last October.

US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy stated in a post on his account on the platform X that the nation’s air traffic had begun to recover from the disruptions caused by the government shutdown.

He explained that Friday had been one of the best days the airspace had seen in some time, with only a very small number of air traffic controllers absent from work.

He added that the department is reviewing the submitted data and working diligently to return airspace operations to normal.

Restrictions had been imposed on air traffic because of the longest government shutdown in US history, which began on October 1 and ended last Wednesday after President Donald Trump signed legislation extending government funding following its approval by Congress.

The shutdown resulted in hundreds of thousands of federal employees being furloughed and forced authorities to call back other essential employees, who had to work without pay, including thousands of air traffic controllers.

However, absenteeism increased among this workforce, which had already been struggling with significant staff shortages.

With operations returning to normal, a six-percent reduction in domestic flights remains in place at 12 of the country’s busiest airports under a decision implemented by the Federal Aviation Administration starting Nov. 13.

Aviation analytics data company Cirium estimated in its assessment of the shutdown’s impact that only two percent of scheduled flights in the United States were canceled yesterday.

It noted that the airports most affected were Atlanta, Chicago O’Hare, Newark, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Denver, each of which saw approximately 20 percent of flights canceled. (QNA)