Consolidation of TRACONs in the Washington Metro Area (Tier 1)
Potomac TRACON … Keeping Safety at the Center of Air Travel
For most Americans "safety first" is a familiar saying. If they had the ability to control the skies, the public would do all they could to make certain that airplane passengers remain as safe as possible. It is no different with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the federal government agency charged with the responsibility for air traffic control. The FAA is committed to putting and keeping safety first. Often that means modifying and improving the existing air traffic control system.
The FAA is making one such improvement in the Baltimore-Washington region. That change is the consolidation of the region's four Terminal Radar Approach Control or TRACON facilities at one. The Baltimore-Washington region is one of the top four metropolitan areas in the US for air traffic volume. In order to increase air traffic efficiencies and enhance safety, the FAA is consolidating four TRACONs into one.
Because there are four major airports in close proximity to one another, four separate TRACONs are highly inefficient. BWI, Dulles, Reagan National, and Andrews Air Force Base are all within an area that routinely contains only one major airport and is controlled by only one TRACON.
When the four TRACONs were first created, it was the correct decision for the Baltimore-Washington area. But now, because we are able to employ the latest state-of-the-art technology we can increase safety and efficiency for the flying public. By consolidating four TRACONs into a single control facility for the Baltimore-Washington area, controllers will handle arriving and departing traffic more safely and efficiently.
We have constructed a new TRACON because none of the existing TRACON facilities within the area is large enough to house the equipment and personnel necessary to control the larger, consolidated airspace. The new facility is large enough to accommodate new state-of-the-art hardware and the workforces of the four existing facilities, as well as to allow for growth in the future.
The new TRACON is located at Vint Hill in Fauquier County near Warrenton Virginia. It was commissioned in December 2002 and is fully operational.
Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
This page was last updated on 05/08/03
