I’d been wondering the same thing. That there was intel on something going down with planes. Didn’t make sense that a “guy” trying to kill himself, lighting a fire could cause all those flights to be cancelled or delayed and of course I would not expect the Govt. to fill us in on the real scenario.
Whatever the guy’s motives, the facility he took down was a major cog in the ATC system. Chicago is a major hub, O’Hare is one of the busiest airports in the world. A hiccup there affects flights nationwide. Not just stranded passengers, but aircraft and aircrew that aren’t where they’re needed to be elsewhere in the country. Thus people can’t get a flight to Dallas because the planes and crews are stuck somewhere that doesn’t connect.