Some air traffic control centres in the United States still use floppy disks. This week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began to change that. The agency started to replace very old equipment with a new computer system.
Read on to find out what the new system is and when the work will finish.
The FAA announced the plan on 10 November. The new system is called E-IDS. This name means Enterprise Information Display System. It will replace old equipment that controllers use to see important information. Some of this equipment dates from the 1980s, and it relies on floppy disks.
Air traffic controllers guide aircraft in the sky and on the ground. They talk to pilots by radio, and they use equipment every day to check information about the airport. When this equipment is very old, it can be difficult to repair, because companies stop making the parts. This is one reason why the FAA wants a change.
Floppy disks are very old technology. Most people no longer use them. Many young people have never even seen one. Air traffic control is a safety job, so the FAA wants modern equipment in every facility.
The FAA has already chosen the first places for the new system. They include two data centres, one in Atlanta and one in Salt Lake City. The work is not finished yet. The FAA plans to install E-IDS at 435 sites by the end of 2028. That is a lot of work for a short time.
The work also needs a lot of money. The US Congress gave $12.5 billion for the whole air traffic control upgrade. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says the country needs another $20 billion to finish the job.
Passengers will not notice any change today. Flights take off and land as normal. But in the next two years, controllers will get new equipment at hundreds of sites. For the FAA, this is one small step in a very big plan to modernise air traffic control.
Check your understanding
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What is the FAA replacing?
The article says the new E-IDS system will replace old equipment that relies on floppy disks.
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True or false: The FAA has finished the work already.
The article says the work is not finished yet. The FAA plans to finish by the end of 2028.
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Why does the article say “Passengers will not notice any change today”?
The article says flights take off and land as normal, so the work does not change the passenger experience today.
- replace (verb) – to take away something old and put something new in its place. Typical use: “It will replace old equipment that controllers use to see important information.”
- equipment (noun) – the machines and tools that people use for a job. Typical use: “The agency started to replace very old equipment with a new computer system.”
- site (noun) – a place where something is built or used. Typical use: “The FAA plans to install E-IDS at 435 sites by the end of 2028.”
- modernise (verb) – to make something newer and better. Typical use: “For the FAA, this is one small step in a very big plan to modernise air traffic control.”
The FAA also pays for airport projects. You can read about one example in FAA Awards $481 Million in Final Year of Airport Grants.
