FAA Begins Replacing Floppy-Disk ATC Displays With E-IDS

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said Thursday, November 5, 2026, that the Federal Aviation Administration is taking floppy-disk weather and operational files off air traffic control floors. The replacement is the Enterprise – Information Display System, E-IDS, which the FAA said collapses four 1980s setups still running in more than 400 facilities into one secure display.

The first five sites named were Atlantic City International Airport, Nashville International Airport, Greater Rochester International Airport, and the data-processing hubs in Atlanta and Salt Lake City. Duffy called E-IDS part of the Brand New Air Traffic Control System. Administrator Bryan Bedford said controllers will share flight alerts, restricted-airspace schedules, and pilot reports from the new boards instead of the old media.

Key details

• E-IDS is a digital board for equipment outages, traffic and weather, and advisories. The FAA said it will also change how PIREPs and NOTAMs are collected and sent.
• Already on the same modernization ledger: 69% of copper wire replaced, Surface Awareness Initiative at 143 towers, electronic flight strips at 26 towers, 226 IP voice switches.
• The FAA awarded the E-IDS contract to Leidos in August 2020.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said E-IDS lets controllers instantly share flight alerts, restricted-airspace schedules, and pilot reports across the National Airspace System.

Why it matters

E-IDS is an information board, not a radar or a staffing fix. PIREPs and NOTAMs still have to move through the National Airspace System; the FAA is putting those feeds on one screen while copper, surface-awareness cameras, electronic strips, and IP voice switches continue on other contracts.