But currently, air traffic controllers have to use a radar point-and-shoot system from the 1960s. “The screens look like something out of the 1960s and ‘70s,” Bastian said.

Out of 138 U.S. air traffic control systems, a 2023 operational risk assessment from the FAA deemed 51, or 37%, to be unsustainable. Another 54, or 39%, were potentially unsustainable.

Unfortunately, replacing decades-old air traffic control systems isn’t as easy as swapping out a home computer. For one, many of these systems can’t ever be shut down—they operate 24/7 and ...