FAA to retire floppy‑disk based air‑traffic system by 2028

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration announced it will retire the floppy‑disk based Information Display System 4 from all air‑traffic control sites by 2028. Controllers currently rely on four 1980s‑era computers that use floppy disks and an old operating system to deliver vital weather, NOTAMs and airport‑status updates. A Department of Transportation changesheet said the system, called IDS‑4, is driven by the disks for critical information. By 2028 each of the four installations will be replaced by the modern Enterprise Information Display System (E‑IDS), which shows real‑time weather, equipment and traffic data on a single screen. The rollout is already in five locations and is slated to reach more than 400 FAA facilities by the deadline, promising safer skies. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X, “Floppy disks from the 1980s: OUT,” confirming the timetable. The move ends a practice that lingered long after floppy disks vanished from the consumer market. By 2011 major makers such as Sony and Mitsubishi stopped production, and Indian firm Amkette ceased in 2013. Floppy capacity peaked at 1.44 MB in 1988, far less than today’s 40‑TB external drives. The FAA’s reliance on the outdated media was not nostalgia but risk mitigation; a system that had performed reliably for decades is preferred over untested replacements in a safety‑critical field. Other governments have moved similarly: Japan ended nationwide floppy use in 2024, and the U.S. Air Force retired 8‑inch disks from missile‑silo controls in 2019. Some Boeing 747‑400 software still required floppy updates as late as 2020. ## Context Older technology often stays in aviation because certification processes are lengthy and any change must prove it does not compromise safety. Replacing the disks now aligns the FAA with modern data‑storage standards used worldwide.