WASHINGTON >> Federal Aviation Administration officials said today that they 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 today. 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 today, down from 3.5% on We

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