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The US Federal Aviation Administration announced on November 5 that it will retire floppy-disk-based information systems used by air traffic controllers. A new platform, the Enterprise Information Display System (E-IDS), is due to be installed at 435 facilities by the end of 2028, according to Ars Technica and The Register.
Key facts
- E-IDS replaces four legacy systems: Information Display System 4 (IDS-4), the Automated Surface Observing System Controller Equipment Information Display System, the NAS Information Display System (NIDS) and the En Route Information Display System (ERIDS).
- The first five sites are Atlantic City International Airport, Nashville International Airport, Greater Rochester International Airport, and FAA data processing hubs in Atlanta and Salt Lake City.
- The FAA targets 435 sites by the end of 2028. Tom's Hardware says the system could extend to 453 sites, a figure that differs from the other two outlets.
- The FAA awarded Leidos a contract to design and develop E-IDS in August 2020, per Ars Technica.
What E-IDS changes
The platform pulls weather data, airport status, Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) and Pilot Reports (PIREPs) into a single view. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the system lets controllers share flight alerts, restricted airspace schedules and pilot reports instantly across the National Airspace System.
According to Ars Technica, IDS-4 runs on MS-DOS and has been in use since the early 1990s. A September 2026 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report described the legacy displays as relying on obsolete technology and manual updates, and called them cumbersome for controllers to search.
NOTAM distribution is a known weak point. The Register notes that a 2023 incident, caused by an accidentally deleted file in the NOTAM system, temporarily halted domestic departures nationwide.
Funding is the open question
The floppy-disk replacement is one piece of a much larger program. The Register reports that Congress allocated $12.5 billion for the overhaul, and that the FAA said in December of last year it needed an additional $20 billion. An FAA spokesperson told the outlet that Secretary Sean Duffy and Bedford are urging Congress to pass the Modern Skies Act, which seeks $30 billion.
The GAO said in 2024 that 51 of the agency's 138 air traffic control systems were unsustainable because of a lack of parts and funding, per The Register. In September, it said an additional $10.2 billion was needed for the second phase of upgrades, which has no completion date.
Duffy said floppy disks are "out." The Register points out that, with rollout running through 2028 and funding unresolved, that is not yet accurate.
What to watch
The first installations at the five named sites will show whether the schedule holds. Ars Technica reports that upgrades at every facility would take about a year, which sits uneasily with a 2028 end date for 435 sites. Congressional action on the Modern Skies Act will determine whether the broader modernization is funded.
