*

FAA had earlier frozen flight cuts at 6% as shutdown

disruptions

declined

*

Airlines cancel far fewer flights than ordered

*

FAA still short of 3,500 air traffic controllers

(Updates with new FAA statement)

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) -

The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday it halved a

requirement that U.S. airlines reduce domestic flights at 40

major airports from 6% to 3% starting Saturday to address air

traffic control safety concerns after the end of the government

shutdown.

Airlines have been pushing for the FAA to end the required

cuts entirely and were largely not in compliance with the FAA

order that required the 6% cut on Friday. It remains to be seen

if they will be in compliance with the 3% order.

"The 3% reduction will remain in place while the FAA

monitors system performance throughout the weekend and evaluates

whether normal operations can resume," the FAA said.

Cirium, an aviation analytics firm, said airlines canceled

just 2% of overall flights Friday, down from 3.5% on Wednesday

and Thursday. On Friday, air traffic controllers and other FAA

employees began receiving back pay equal to about 70% of what

they are owed excluding overtime.

Airlines have been privately making the case to the FAA that

it is time to end the cuts and some said earlier they plan to

cut few or no flights on Saturday, officials told Reuters.

The FAA opted on Wednesday to ease those required

cancellations after disruptions due to air traffic control

absences declined dramatically as Congress voted to reopen the

government after a 43-day shutdown. The FAA had initially

planned to hike the cuts to 8% on Thursday and 10% on Friday.

Separately, a group of House Democrats led by Representative

Rick Larsen, the ranking member of the Transportation and

Infrastructure Committee, asked the administration on Friday to

turn over the specific safety data and how it compares to the

last six months. "It appears that the administration made this

decision without adequate coordination with key aviation

stakeholders," the Democrats wrote.

United Airlines said it had canceled 134 flights for

Friday, or almost 3% of its flights, after cancelling 222

flights on Thursday.

The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of

targeted staffing levels. Many had been working mandatory

overtime and six-day weeks even before the shutdown led to them

working without pay.

Air traffic absences led to tens of thousands of flight

cancellations and delays since October 1, when the 43-day

shutdown began.