FAA Announces First U.S. Digital Air Traffic Control Towers in Florida and Alaska | Trump administration

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that the first digital air traffic control towers in the United States are officially operational, first bringing the new technology to smaller airports in Florida and Alaska as the Trump administration continues to update the nation’s aging aviation infrastructure.

The systems are now online at Bartow Executive Airport (KBOW) in Florida and Kenai Municipal Airport (PAEN) in Alaska, with five additional regional airports expected to receive the technology next.

The digital towers use advanced camera systems and digital displays to give air traffic controllers a continuous 360-degree view of airport operations, including runways, taxiways and the surrounding airspace, according to the agency.

The FAA maintains that the technology is not intended to replace human controllers. Instead, the systems are designed to provide greater visibility and additional information to help controllers complete their existing tasks.

“Our air traffic controllers continue to do the essential work of keeping planes safely separated, and we are providing them with better technology to do it,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said in a statement.

“Digital towers provide controllers with greater visibility into airport activity and more information to make critical decisions,” he added.

Bedford is scheduled to appear before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee next week, where he will answer questions about the progress and challenges surrounding the administration’s ongoing $12.5 billion modernization initiative.

The effort aims to replace decades-old equipment still used throughout the aviation system, including copper telecommunications lines, floppy disks and paper tapes used to track planes.

Congress approved $12.5 billion over five years in June 2025 to support air traffic control reforms, but the Trump administration is seeking another $30 billion from the legislature to fund additional improvements.

Concerns about the types of technologies being implemented in air traffic control are gaining ground alongside growing unease about artificial intelligence as a whole. In September, the FAA rolled out a new AI software tool called Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories (Smart).

Trump has been heavily criticized for his response to the national shortage of air traffic controllers following last year’s government shutdown.

Staffing levels in control towers and many related aspects of US aviation safety systems have come under particular scrutiny since the mid-air collision between an airliner and a military helicopter in suburban Washington DC in 2025, which killed 67 people. It was the deadliest accident in the United States in more than 20 years and authorities later deemed it “100% preventable.”