The FAA is finally ditching floppy disks

<figure> <img alt="" data-caption="The air traffic control tower is seen San Diego International Airport on May 27th in San Diego, California. | Photo by Kevin Carter / Getty Images" data-portal-copyright="Photo by Kevin Carter / Getty Images" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/11/gettyimages-2277873855.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> The air traffic control tower is seen San Diego International Airport on May 27th in San Diego, California. | Photo by Kevin Carter / Getty Images </figcaption> </figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It's the year 2026 and the Federal Aviation Administration is still running critical pieces of American airspace on 3.5-inch magnetic floppy disks. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">But those technology artifacts could be headed for the dustbin after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced an effort to ditch floppy disks in favor of a new digital system. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/trumps-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-begins-retiring-decades-old-floppy-disks-air">Duffy announced Thursday</a> that the FAA is rolling out the Enterprise - Information Display System (E-IDS) to replace four legacy setups across more than 400 air traffic control facilities. E-IDS aggregates real-time weather alerts, equipment outages, restricted airspace changes, and pilot reports onto a modern digit …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/transportation/1027511/faa-floppy-disks-sean-duffy-air-traffic-control-eids">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>