Chicago flight gridlock eases as FAA shifts traffic control

[DALLAS] Air traffic in Chicago, one of the busiest US travel markets, is starting to return to normal as controllers shift people and equipment to handle work once done at a sabotaged radar centre.

Flight cancellations for Tuesday totalled 174 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, data tracker FlightAware.com reported as at 9pm on Monday. Airlines scrapped about 440 takeoffs and landings there on Monday, roughly 40 per cent fewer than a day earlier following the Sept 26 fire.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has said it doesn't expect full operations until Oct 13 at the Chicago En Route Center, where damage from the blaze quickly snarled air traffic and led to more than 2,000 cancellations around the United States within hours.