The FAA reports that Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) was the nation’s busiest airport last week and through the weekend, after thousands of flights into and out of Chicago’s two airports were delayed or canceled since a fire damaged a key Chicago air traffic control center, followed quickly by a rippling of flight plan issues nationwide.
Full operational status is up and running at the Chicago En Route Center! Early Monday morning, the FAA stated:
U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration, early this morning, successfully restored full air traffic operations at the Chicago En Route Center in Aurora, IL, which suffered significant damage from a September 26 fire that was deliberately set. During the outage, the agency also successfully maintained high traffic volumes to and from Midway and O’Hare, the busiest airport in the world. FAA technical teams restored all of the critical systems and equipment at the center last night, and air traffic controllers resumed control of the center’s airspace from adjoining centers between midnight and 1 a.m.
This announcement came after the FAA’s statement on Sunday:
O’Hare remained the nation’s busiest airport yesterday for the seventh straight day, with more than 103 percent of the two-month average number of arrivals and departures for a Saturday. The number of Midway flights topped 100 percent of the two-month average. At noon CDT today, flights at O’Hare were operating at more than 97 percent of the two-month average, and Midway flights were running above 90 percent of the two-month average.
The FAA has successfully tested and restored all of the critical systems and equipment at the Chicago En Route Center in Aurora, IL and is moving forward with the planned transition to full operations at the facility tonight. Overnight, the FAA will gradually transition flight plan information, communications and airspace back to Chicago Center. The FAA is working closely with domestic and international airlines to make sure they have all the necessary information to ensure a smooth transition.
O’Hare’s Airport Transit System (ATS) Shuts Down Nightly Through November 2
ORD travelers and staff must use alternative bus service between terminals instead of the ATS train service each night between 10pm – 9am now through the morning hours of Sunday, November 2, 2014.
The alternate bus shuttle service includes transfers to ORD’s economy parking lots. Additionally, ATS trains currently do not operate between Economy Parking Lot E and Terminal 5. Bus shuttle service is provided between the Parking Lot E station (“Kiss n’ Fly”) and Terminals 1, 2 and 3, along with a shuttle service directly to and from Terminal 5. Bus shuttle service is provided between Parking Lot F and Terminals 1, 2 and 3, along with a shuttle service directly to and from Terminal 5. The ATS continues to operate between Terminals 1, 2, 3 and 5. Full ATS service is anticipated to resume in early November 2014.
Allow for extra travel time as needed!
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