US flight cancellations expose old air traffic control system as FAA seeks $50 billion for upgrades

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US flight cancellations expose outdated air traffic control technology as the FAA faces calls for $50 billion to upgrade its ageing system.

More than one million passengers in the US faced travel disruptions because of problems with the country's ageing air traffic control system. The system faced major technical problems on Friday, forcing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to stop flights across the country.

The disruption affected passengers who were already on planes as well as those waiting to board. According to flight-tracking service FlightAware, around 9,200 flights were cancelled on Friday. Another 6,200 flights were cancelled on Saturday, even after the FAA lifted the ground stop, according to CNN.

The US air traffic control system handles a huge number of flights every day despite using outdated technology. The system manages a large amount of US airspace and handles more than 45,000 flights daily.

Despite its old equipment, major failures are relatively rare. However, the latest disruption has exposed how difficult it has become to maintain the country's ageing aviation technology.

Some parts of the US air traffic control system still depend on technology that is decades old. Air traffic controllers still use paper strips carrying flight details to transfer information from one controller to another, according to CNN.

Some parts of the system also depend on floppy computer discs. Copper wires are still used for communication across nearly one-third of the air traffic control system. These outdated systems make it difficult to maintain operations and introduce newer technology.

Experts say replacing old technology is difficult because many of its original parts are no longer available.

Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research Group and a travel industry analyst, compared the problem to maintaining a 30-year-old car. He said finding replacement parts becomes increasingly difficult as a vehicle gets older, according to CNN.

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