FAA to replace floppy disks at air traffic control sites by end of 2028

The Federal Aviation Administration will stop using floppy disks at air traffic control facilities as part of a technology upgrade to be completed by the end of 2028.

The new system

The Enterprise Information Display System (E-IDS) will replace four information display systems dating to the 1980s: the Information Display System 4 (IDS-4), Controller Equipment Information Display System (ACE-IDS), NAS Information Display System (NIDS), and En Route Information Display System (ERIDS). The FAA said E-IDS will be deployed to operational control positions at more than 400 facilities across all air traffic control domains and will provide operationally essential information for controlling aircraft.

The FAA said E-IDS will address two top safety concerns: distribution of weather alerts to pilots, known as PIREP, and timely distribution of Notices to Airmen, or NOTAMs, which include information on abnormal statuses and hazards.

"E-IDS gives air traffic controllers the information they need to make timely decisions and keep the flying public safe," FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said.

Rollout and funding

The first sites to receive E-IDS are Atlantic City International Airport, Nashville International Airport, Greater Rochester International Airport, and data processing hubs in Atlanta and Salt Lake City. The FAA plans to complete the upgrade at 435 sites by the end of 2028.

"Good news America: floppy disks are out, 21st century tech is in," US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.

Congress approved $12.5 billion in 2025 to fix the nation’s aging air traffic control system, according to reporting by Reuters cited in the sources. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is seeking another $30 billion for upgrades, according to the same reporting.

Background on the old systems

The FAA awarded a contract to Leidos in August 2020 to design and develop E-IDS. Leidos said at the time that E-IDS is part of the FAA’s Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) modernization project.

IDS-4, one of the systems being replaced, runs on MS-DOS and has been in constant use since the early 1990s, according to a 2018 press release from Systems Atlanta. The system appears to run on desktop PCs with 3.5-inch floppy disk drives.

A September 2026 report by the US Government Accountability Office said legacy display systems rely on obsolete technology, including floppy disks, and interfaces from the 1980s. The GAO said the systems are cumbersome for controllers to search, retrieve, and display information.

Why it matters

The FAA provides service to more than 44,000 flights and more than 3 million airline passengers on a daily basis, according to the sources. The agency is also facing a shortage of several thousand air traffic controllers. The upgrade replaces technology that has been in use for decades and addresses safety concerns about weather alerts and NOTAM distribution.

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Sources

• arstechnica.com: FAA to finally ditch floppy disks in what it calls "historic" tech upgrade - Ars Technica
• wataugaonline.com: FAA to Replace Floppy Disks Used in Air Traffic Control by End of 2028 - WataugaOnline.com
• livenowfox.com: FAA to finally phase out floppy disks from air traffic control systems by 2028 | LiveNOW from FOX
• techspot.com: It's almost 2027, and the FAA is finally replacing the floppy disks used by US air traffic control | TechSpot
• geekspin.co: Air Traffic Control is finally retiring floppy disks

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.