The end of reductions, that caused mass cancellations and delays, comes in time for the Thanksgiving holiday next week.
Travelers were relieved Monday morning to make it through TSA with no issues. This is the first time in days, there are no cancellations at Chicago's airports.
"You don't know until you get here and I am pleasantly surprised that it doesn't look bad," traveler Mark Sofyanos said.
Welcome news as things have presumably returned back to normal at O'Hare Airport, especially for those who travel for work, having dealt with delays the past few weeks.
"It's fantastic," traveler Mahesh Kumthekar said. "It's really good to be back in business, flights are back on time. So I'm really excited to get back to work."
Flight cuts at 40 major airports, including O'Hare and Midway, ended at 5 a.m. Monday.
Airlines resumed their normal schedules after cutting back in a flight reduction emergency order because of the government shutdown.
The FAA cited safety concerns, due to staffing shortages during the record-long shutdown.
"I think it's obviously a lot more significant for the workers who haven't been getting paid which is absolutely unacceptable," traveler Erin McCLenton said. "I think also for me with kids at home. If I have to travel for work, I need to know that I can actually get back home to relieve the huge network of people that help cover while I'm gone. So very grateful but also this should never have happened."
This change brought relief to many travelers Monday morning, especially those heading to one very special destination!
"Certainly, we were worried about all of the flight delays," traveler Christine Bestvina said. "Trying to take your four year-old to Disney is a huge moment of excitement and we were hoping to avoid any delays and any cancellation so we're just thrilled to be making our flight on time today and that travel is going to be super easy for us."
And just in time for the busy Thanksgiving holiday.
AAA predicts nearly 82 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home over the holiday travel period - which begins next Tuesday.
That's over a million more people than last Thanksgiving, which is a new record, and about four million people in Illinois alone will travel.
AAA also notes, Thanksgiving is the single busiest holiday for travel, compared to others like Memorial Day and Independence Day.
But given the recent tumultuous air travel, people wonder how this will affect the airports next week.
"I think because of it not being a stable environment, people probably already made alternative plans whether that's driving or changing flight times, things like that around the holidays, instead of trying to travel as close to the holidays," traveler Nicole Gibson said. "So I think it's gonna maybe be a little bit lighter this year."
Airlines say they're optimistic - operations will rebound in time for Thanksgiving.