Chicago Center Set To Reopen

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Chicago Center is expected to be back in full service Monday, a little more than two weeks after an arson fire put it out of commission. Since the Sept. 26 fire, which was allegedly set by a contractor’s employee who also tried to take his own life, staff and contractors have been scrambling to clean and repair equipment to get the busy facility back on line. The fire caused widespread air traffic disruptions that rippled through the whole system and resulted thousands of flight cancellations. But within hours of the sabotage, the FAA had distributed the center’s responsibilities among neighboring ATC facilities and within two days traffic was flowing almost normally.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association calls the effort “one of the most memorable and impressive operations in the history of the air traffic control profession.” Handling Chicago Center’s traffic involved hundreds of NATCA members at two dozen facilities in and around its zone. “It’s really nothing short of miraculous,” said Jim Larson, NATCA Facility Representative at Indianapolis Center (ZID). “All of the facilities involved in this project have accomplished things they were never designed to do. It’s been the most incredible 10 days of my entire 27-year career. I’ve never been more proud of my coworkers and my profession.”

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