US air traffic control aims to replace Windows 95, floppy disks and paper strips

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced that it will update its air traffic control systems, which are largely outdated. This was announced by FAA Director Chris Rocheleau before the House of Representatives Budget Committee.

"The idea is to replace the whole system", Rocheleau said at the hearing. "No more diskettes or paper strips." The US air traffic control systems still run on hardware, some of which dates back to the 1980s and 1990s and is operated with Windows 95. Data is still exchanged via floppy disk. Paper control strips are also still in use.

According to the FAA, more than a third of air traffic control systems are not fit for the future. Failures have already occurred, for example recently at the airports in Denver and Newark.

The problem is money

Rocheleau's predecessors were already confronted with the problem of having to modernize air traffic control, but failed. The reason was a lack of funding, Michael Huerta, a former FAA chief, told National Public Radio. "The FAA was asked to do more with less funding."

One issue with the transition will be that the current systems cannot simply be shut down and replaced with new ones, as air traffic control must be operational at all times. The new systems also need to be able to deal with unmanned aerial vehicles and the ever-increasing number of rocket launches. Finally, protection against hackers and cyberattacks must also be provided.

Transport Minister Sean Duffy wants an entirely new air traffic control system and has broad support from the entire aviation industry, from the air traffic controllers' union to the airlines. The minister wants to complete the project in four years. He estimates the costs to be in the double-digit billion range.

"This is the most important infrastructure project in this country for decades", said Duffy at a press conference. "Everyone agrees, it's bipartisan. Everyone knows we have to get this done."

(wpl)