U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy has visited Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) to observe the airport’s transition from paper to electronic flight strips in its air traffic control tower.
The upgrade is part of a broader air traffic control modernisation programme funded through the 12.5 billion USD allocation in President Donald J. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.
For decades, air traffic controllers at DCA relied on paper flight strips to monitor and manage flight operations. The new electronic system replaces the paper process with a digital interface, allowing real-time updates and enabling information to be shared with other stakeholders involved in surface and air traffic management.
DCA is currently one of 15 airports nationwide to have implemented the electronic flight strip system.
The electronic flight strips are part of the Terminal Flight Data Manager (TFDM), a tower-based programme designed to support surface management and operational efficiency. The system streamlines the flight-plan process and provides controllers with real-time data to assist with decisions on runway usage, taxiing, and gate assignments.
The system also assists controllers in managing fluctuations in traffic volume, changing weather conditions, and other operational factors that affect surface and air traffic control decisions.
A video presenting the upgraded system can be viewed here.
