Airlines are telling passengers they’re ready to recover their schedules as the government shutdown finally ends

• The longest government shutdown in US history ended on Wednesday.
• Delta and American issued statements thanking aviation workers.
• But air travel won’t be back to normal immediately.

After 43 days, the longest government shutdown in US history is finally over.

Airlines have started issuing statements, thanking workers for maintaining the nation’s aviation system despite not being paid for weeks.

However, they also warned that operations won’t be back to normal right away.

“Despite difficult circumstances, our team members continue to step up and take care of our customers throughout the shutdown-related travel disruptions,” American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said.

“I am proud of how our team responded and remain truly grateful for the federal aviation workers who faced challenging conditions for weeks without pay, all to get our customers where they needed to go safely,” he added.

American said “hundreds of thousands” of its customers were affected after the shutdown led to “widespread delays and cancellations.”

“We are encouraged by the last few days of operations that have already brought fewer delays and cancellations,” the airline added.

Delta also issued a statement thanking its Delta staff and federal workers who worked unpaid for more than 40 days.

Data from the aviation analytics firm Cirium showed 816 cancellations on Wednesday, as of 4:30 p.m. ET — compared to over 2,600 on Sunday. That was the 4th-worst day for cancellations since the start of 2024.

The canceled flights have knock-on effects, leaving some planes and crews out of place from their typical schedules. “There will be residual effects for days,” the trade group Airlines for America said Monday.

American Airlines said it was “well-positioned to recover quickly because of our operational decisions to minimize disruption.”

“We look forward to bringing our operation back to full capacity over the next few days and delivering the premium experience our customers expect as we look ahead to the holiday season,” Delta said in its statement.