[Scan-DC] New Washington Air Traffic Control Facility in Full Operation

[Kevin P. Inscoe]

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Fyi...

- -------- Original Message --------
Subject: New Washington Air Traffic Control Facility in Full Operation
Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 11:30:18 -0400
From: 9-awa-press-releases@faa.gov
To: kevin@inscoe.org


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


18-03 May 16, 2003
Contact: William Shumann
Phone: 202-267-3883 New Washington Air Traffic Control Facility in Full 
Operation Washington, DC � The U. S. Department
of Transportation�s Federal Aviation
Administration�s (FAA) new,
technologically advanced air traffic
control (ATC) facility is now fully
operational in Warrenton, VA.  Called
the Potomac TRACON (Terminal Radar
Approach CONtrol), the new facility
consolidates five TRACONs and will
enable the FAA to redesign the local
airspace for improved flying efficiency
in the Baltimore-Washington area.

�The Potomac TRACON exemplifies how we
plan to chart a new century of safe and
efficient air travel throughout the
nation,� FAA Administrator Marion C.
Blakey said.  �Programs such as this
are a key component in our effort to
safely increase aviation system
capacity by 30 percent in the next
decade.�

In early April, controllers from
Baltimore-Washington International
Airport began working at Potomac.  They
joined controllers from Dulles
International, Reagan Washington
National, Andrews Air Force Base and
Richmond International airports, who
moved to Potomac beginning last
December. With the consolidation now
complete, about 300 FAA employees at
Potomac are handling an average of
5,000 flights a day in 23,000 square
miles of airspace covering parts of
five states � Maryland, Virginia,
Delaware, West Virginia and
Pennsylvania.  FAA controllers continue
to staff the control towers at the five
airports.

Later this year, the FAA will begin
implementing a redesign of the Potomac
airspace in the Baltimore-Washington
area.  Under the current design, which
has been in place for about 20 years,
the local airspace was rigidly
portioned among the four airports.
That resulted in fixed routes for
safety reasons as airplanes flew from
one airport�s airspace to another.
Removing these barriers will allow
aircraft to fly more direct routings,
reach higher altitudes more quickly on
departure and stay at higher altitudes
for a longer time on arrival.  The
benefits include savings to the
airlines and other aircraft operators
through lower fuel consumption and
reduced noise to residents.

In January, the FAA issued its final
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
for the redesign of the airspace.  The
airspace redesign will not affect
current final approach and departure
routes, which are generally within five
miles of the airport.

When implemented fully next year, the
new routes in the redesigned airspace
will save the users of the local
airspace � airlines, private pilots and
the military services � an estimated
$25 million annually, due largely to
less fuel being burned.  Reduced fuel
consumption also means less air
pollution from aircraft engines.  The
cost of the Potomac TRACON � land,
building, equipment and airspace
redesign --is about $110 million.

In a TRACON, controllers use radar to
guide aircraft safely and efficiently
into and out of an airport.  Generally,
its airspace covers a 50-mile radius
around the airport up to 10,000 feet.
Consolidated TRACONs, such as those in
New York and Southern California, as
well as in this area, cover a much
larger area to higher altitudes.  The
Potomac TRACON airspace covers an area
with maximum dimensions of almost 200
miles by 170 miles and extends up to
23,000 feet.



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- -- 
Kevin P. Inscoe       KE3VIN        Geek and fixer of things
Deltona, FL 32738    FX/VM: 507-262-1277   28.9492N 81.1955W
kevin [at] inscoe [dot] org          http://inscoe.org/kevin
GPG:  4D3F F24B 13B3 BC86 FCA9 5977 6EA5 7CDC 9599 61B0
"Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea"

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