AI summary
Summary of article:
The FAA plans to phase out disk and legacy systems in use at air traffic control facilities across the United States by the end of 2028 and use new platforms to improve information integration. Additionally, improvements will be accelerated due to fiber optic outages and equipment aging.
According to Reuters, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on the 5th that it will replace the old discs by the end of 2028 that are still in use at more than 400 air traffic control facilities across the United States and are used to transmit vital information such as weather.
The new Enterprise Information Display System will replace four 1980s-era systems and integrate critical operational information onto a single platform, allowing air traffic controllers to quickly understand the latest air traffic conditions.
Magnetic disks were largely phased out more than 25 years ago and have not been mass-produced since 2011. The US Congress approved $12.5 billion last year to upgrade the aging air traffic control system; As the FAA faces a number of technical issues, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy hopes to secure an additional $30 billion for more upgrades.
FAA Administrator Brian Bedford said in a statement: “We are gradually replacing outdated manual processes and disk-dependent technology with modern systems that allow air traffic controllers to instantly share critical flight warnings, restricted airspace events and pilot reports.”
Reuters obtained a previously undisclosed memo sent by the FAA to airports on October 23. The FAA reported in the memo that “Recently, there have been several incidents of air traffic disruption due to cutoffs of fiber optic cables, which may lead to flight delays, diversions, and cancellations” and called on airports to coordinate with the FAA when completing projects.
For example, the FAA reported that on October 13, a fiber optic cable connecting George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston and the FAA network was cut outside a gate at the airport, causing a disruption in data services between FAA facilities and forcing a grounding.
In September this year, a circuit failure occurred at an air traffic control facility in Philadelphia, and a fiber optic cable in New Jersey was accidentally cut by construction workers. The dual failure caused thousands of flights to be delayed or canceled in the densely populated northeastern region.
Decades old computer spare parts bought on eBay
The FAA is currently relying on a telecommunications system that it is eager to replace, as well as decades-old Compaq computers and replacement parts purchased from eBay. The United States has the most complex airspace in the world, but faces a manpower shortage of thousands of air traffic controllers.
Air traffic control facilities across the United States cannot communicate with each other, and each operates on an independent analog computer. “Every facility is an island,” Bedford said in a recent interview with Reuters.
The FAA is also working hard to end the decades-old practice of using paper flight control strips to track aircraft, which has long been ridiculed by the outside world. However, this transformation, which will be promoted from 2022, will not be fully implemented at 49 major airports and will not be completed until 2028 at the earliest. At present, 27 major airports have abolished paper control regulations.
Summary FAQ
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Because more than 400 air traffic control facilities in the United States still rely on old disks to transmit critical information like weather, which is inefficient and risky. The FAA hopes to modernize the system to provide air traffic controllers immediate access to alerts, restricted airspace schedules and pilot reports.
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This enterprise information display system will replace four systems dating back to the 1980s and integrate critical operational information into a single platform, allowing air traffic controllers to instantly understand the latest air traffic conditions and reduce the problem of scattered operations.
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Not only is the FAA still using decades-old Compaq computers and eBay parts, but its facilities are like isolated islands that can’t communicate with each other. In addition, incidents such as outages in fiber optics, circuit failures and accidental excavations in construction have caused numerous delays, downgrades and cancellations.
