FAA reopens fire-damaged facility near Chicago

The Federal Aviation Administration on Monday reopened a suburban Chicago air traffic control facility that was damaged in a fire last month. 

The agency said it’s Chicago Air Route Center in Aurora, Ill., which helps guides flights into the city’s O’Hare and Midway international airports, was officially back on line as of 1 a.m. Monday. 

The Aurora facility had been closed since it was set on fire by an FAA employee on Sept. 26 in an apparent suicide attempt. 

{mosads}Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said Monday that the quickness of the facility being reopened was a testament to the efficiency of the FAA. 

“The men and women of the FAA turned an attack on our air traffic system into an unparalleled display of team work, creativity and resolve. They got the system going again and continued to safely manage our skies despite such a significant disruption,” Foxx said in a statement. 

He added that he was grateful to passengers who suffered through flight delays in the early days of the Aurora facility being closed. 

“We appreciate the enduring patience of all travelers who were inconvenienced when Chicago Center was disabled,” the Transportation secretary said. “I’m proud of the team effort to quickly restore the system to near-normal capacity. The Department and the FAA are committed to learning from this event and plan to release a review of this incident.”

The damage from the fire resulted in nearly 4,000 flights to airports in the Chicago area being delayed during the final weekend in September. 

FAA officials said Monday that “a full shift of air traffic controllers returned to Chicago Center last night and resumed duties at their normal positions for the first time in more than two weeks. 

“Nearly 200 of the facility’s workers traveled to other FAA air traffic facilities during the center outage and will be returning from those locations today,” the agency added.