On December 14 the Potomac Consolidated Tracon began operation. The new facility consolidates five former existing Tracons and allows the FAA to redesign the airspace in this area for “more efficient, direct flight routings,” according to the agency. When the consolidation is complete, the Potomac Tracon will have about 300 employees, who will handle about 5,000 flights a day in 23,000 sq mi of airspace covering parts of five states. Later this year the FAA will begin overhauling the Potomac airspace design in the Baltimore-Washington area. This month the FAA plans to reveal its choice from four options for redesigning the airspace.