FAA to Phase Out Floppy Disks in Traffic Control Towers by 2028
Modernizing communications and alerts
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said facilities cannot communicate with one another and instead operate on separate analog computers. He described each facility as its own “silo,” according to a statement.
Bedford said the agency is replacing manual processes and technology that depended on floppy disks. The planned system is intended to let controllers share flight alerts, restricted-airspace schedules and pilot reports instantly.
Funding and other upgrades
Congress approved $12.5 billion in 2025 to address the aging air traffic control system. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is seeking an additional $30 billion for upgrades, Reuters reported.
An FAA memo dated Oct. 23 cited several recent air traffic control outages and blamed them on fiber-optic cable cuts. The agency is also replacing paper flight strips used by controllers to track aircraft.
Paper strips and air traffic demands
The FAA provides service to more than 44,000 flights and over 3 million airline passengers each day. Annually, that amounts to more than 16 million flights and over 976 million passengers. The agency also faces a shortage of several thousand air traffic controllers.
Key points
- The FAA plans to replace floppy-disk systems by 2028.
- More than 400 facilities still use the outdated storage technology.
- Congress approved $12.5 billion in 2025 for air traffic system repairs.
- The FAA says paper-strip replacement at 49 major airports will take until at least 2028.