FAA to replace floppy disks with E-IDS at 435 sites by 2028

The US Federal Aviation Administration announced on Thursday that it will retire the 3.5‑inch magnetic floppy disks used in air‑traffic control and install the Enterprise – Information Display System (E-IDS) at 435 sites by the end of 2028, Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said.

The legacy diskette systems, which hold vital weather and other critical information, are in use at more than 400 facilities nationwide. The first five locations to receive the new digital dashboards are Atlantic City International Airport, Nashville International Airport, Greater Rochester International Airport and data‑processing hubs in Atlanta and Salt Lake City. The FAA bulletin said the upgrade will give controllers faster access to data, cut repair costs and improve safety.

A Government Accountability Office report from September 2024 found that 90 percent of the nation’s critical air‑traffic control infrastructure was due or past due for a technology refresh, with nearly half of the 138 systems surveyed deemed unsustainable. The E‑IDS contract was awarded to Leidos in August 2020 and has progressed through procurement, safety validation and testing. Duffy, a former reality‑TV star and Fox Business host, has been lobbying Congress for an additional $30 billion on top of the $12.5 billion down payment secured in 2025.

“Good news America: floppy disks are out, 21st century tech is in,” Duffy said.