*

FAA says it will review reports some airlines did not

comply

with the restrictions

*

Agency imposed restrictions due to air traffic control

safety

concerns

*

Airlines canceled just a fraction of 1% of flights Sunday,

far

fewer than FAA required

(Recasts with FAA announcement, updates with all-new material

throughout)

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Nov 16 (Reuters) -

The Federal Aviation Administration late Sunday said it

would end mandated cuts in domestic flights at 40 major U.S.

airports effective at 6 a.m. ET (1000 GMT) Monday, easing

restrictions that had been imposed over air traffic control

concerns during the federal shutdown.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the decision

"reflects the steady decline in staffing concerns." The FAA also

removed restrictions on space launches and general aviation

flights at some airports.

Airlines had been expecting the move. Several major

airlines told Reuters on condition of anonymity that they had

not canceled any flights for Monday and were not planning to do

so.

Airlines for America, a trade group representing

American Airlines ( AAL ), United Airlines, Delta Air

Lines ( DAL ), Southwest Airlines ( LUV ) and others, declined

to comment.

Late Friday, the FAA halved the flight-cut requirement

from 6% to 3%, although airlines have not been complying with

the requirements anyway. Carriers on Sunday canceled just 0.25%

of flights at those 40 airports - less than normal cancellations

- according to Cirium, an aviation analytics firm.

Cirium said the overall cancellation rate for the United

States was just 0.36% Sunday and viewed it as a sign that

operations are returning to normal.

But that was far below what the FAA had mandated, and

the agency said on Sunday it was "aware of reports of

non-compliance by carriers over the course of the emergency

order. The agency is reviewing and assessing enforcement

options."

The order said the FAA could seek a fine of up to

$75,000 for every flight operated above the mandated limits.

FAA officials originally aimed for a gradual increase in

reductions to 10% of domestic flights, but they opted on

November 12 to freeze that requirement at 6% after disruptions

declined dramatically as the federal shutdown came to an end.

The agency originally ordered flight cuts to minimize

travel disruptions caused by shortages of air traffic

controllers during the federal shutdown, when many of them

stopped coming to work because they were not being paid.

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.

Absences of air traffic controllers led to tens of

thousands of flight cancellations and delays after October 1,

when the shutdown began.

On Friday, two days after a 43-day record setting

government shutdown ended, air traffic controllers and other FAA

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

they are owed.