It sounds like a punchline, but parts of the US air traffic control system still use technology that once relied on floppy disks. The Federal Aviation Administration has now laid out a concrete plan to change that, announcing on November 5 that it will roll out a new centralized information platform to 435 facilities by the end of 2028, finally retiring four information systems that date back to the 1980s.
What the FAA is actually replacing
The new platform is called the Enterprise Information Display System, or E-IDS. According to the FAA, it will give air traffic controllers a single, centralized view of weather reports, flight alerts, restricted airspace schedules, pilot reports, and equipment problems, instead of forcing them to check separate displays and manual processes. FAA administrator Bryan Bedford framed the change as a move “away from outdated, manual processes” toward tools that let controllers “instantly share critical flight alerts, restricted airspace schedules and pilot reports” across the network.
The first wave of sites includes Atlantic City International Airport, Nashville International Airport, Greater Rochester International Airport, and FAA data processing hubs in Atlanta and Salt Lake City. From there, E-IDS could be extended to as many as 453 sites by the end of 2028.
Why this matters beyond the floppy disk headline
The floppy disk detail grabs attention, but the bigger issue is how disconnected the FAA’s facilities have been. Bedford has previously described the situation bluntly, saying “every facility is a silo.” The agency also still relies on decades-old computers and replacement parts sourced from eBay.
Fragile infrastructure has also caused problems for travelers. Last month, the FAA warned airports in a memo about several recent outages caused by fiber optic cable cuts. In mid-October, a construction-related cable cut outside George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston disrupted data services between FAA facilities and forced a ground stop. In September, a circuit failure at a Philadelphia air traffic facility and in New Jersey led to thousands of delayed or canceled flights across the Northeast.
Funding and the bigger modernization push
This upgrade isn’t happening in isolation. Congress approved $12.5 billion last year for air traffic control improvements, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is seeking another $30 billion for further upgrades. E-IDS is just one piece of a broader effort that also includes phasing out paper flight strips in favor of electronic ones, a transition that started under the previous administration and is expected to reach 49 major airports by 2028. So far, only 27 airports have made that switch.
Not just an aviation problem
The FAA is far from the only institution still wrestling with floppy-disk-era technology. San Francisco’s Muni Metro light rail system is replacing its own floppy-disk-based train control setup under a $212 million contract with Hitachi Rail, awarded in 2024. The German Navy has reportedly been trying to replace 8-inch floppy drives tied to propulsion and power systems on its Brandenburg-class frigates. Japan, for its part, finally eliminated 1,034 government regulations that required floppy disk submissions back in June 2024.
The bottom line
None of this changes how flying feels tomorrow. But if the FAA sticks to its 2028 timeline, controllers at hundreds of facilities will see weather, equipment and traffic information on a single display instead of separate systems from the 1980s. The floppy disk is the attention-grabbing detail; the real story is a long-overdue upgrade to how information moves through US air traffic control.
Source: Tom's Hardware
