WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today announced that the nation's first digital towers are operational at airports in Florida and Alaska. The new technology gives air traffic controllers better tools to do their jobs by providing greater visibility of airport activity to help them monitor traffic. Controllers are still managing the airspace but now have modern technology and facilities.

Digital towers use advanced cameras and digital displays to provide controllers with a continuous, 360-degree view of runways, taxiways and surrounding airspace. The technology provides additional information to support the work controllers already do.

The FAA has operationalized digital towers at Bartow Executive Airport in Florida and Kenai Municipal Airport in Alaska. With funding from President Trump's Working Families Tax Cut Act, five more non-towered airports will soon get these systems: Winter Haven Regional Airport in Florida, Venice Municipal Airport in Florida, Montgomery County Airpark in Maryland, Johnston Regional Airport in North Carolina, and Durango-La Plata County Airport in Colorado.

"Our air traffic controllers continue to do the critical job of keeping aircraft safely separated, and we're giving them better technology to do that," said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford. "Digital towers provide controllers with greater visibility of airport activity and more information to make critical decisions. It's about putting better tools in the hands of our workforce so they can continue delivering the safe, reliable air traffic services the flying public depends on."

Additional Information

The FAA conducted years of testing at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and other locations to develop standards and ensure digital tower systems meet the agency's safety, accuracy and reliability requirements.

The FAA selected the Frequentis system for deployment.