The Federal Aviation Administration is replacing legacy systems that still rely on 3.5-inch floppy disks with a new digital platform, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Thursday. The system, called the Enterprise Information Display System (E-IDS), will aggregate real-time weather alerts, equipment outages, restricted airspace changes and pilot reports onto a digital dashboard. It will replace four legacy setups across more than 400 air traffic control facilities.
Upgrades have started at five sites, including control hubs in Atlantic City, Nashville, Rochester, Atlanta and Salt Lake City. The FAA targets a rollout across 435 facilities by the end of 2028.
Duffy said in a release: "Good news America: floppy disks are out, 21st century tech is in."
The source reports that E-IDS is an existing FAA contract first awarded to Leidos, a defense contractor based in Reston, Virginia, in August 2020. The source says the contract has been working through procurement, safety validation, testing and vendor timelines for years.
The source cites a September 2024 Government Accountability Office report finding that 90 percent of the nation's critical air traffic control infrastructure was due or past due for a technology refresh. It also reports that nearly half of the 138 systems surveyed were considered unsustainable or potentially unsustainable because of funding shortfalls, insufficient maintenance expertise or a lack of spare parts.
The source argues that the display upgrade does not address staffing shortages of certified controllers. It also reports that Duffy has asked Congress for an additional $30 billion for his air traffic control modernization plan, on top of a $12.5 billion down payment he received in 2025.