As airplanes got faster and airports got busier during the 1950s and 1960s, air traffic control towers grew taller to give controllers unobstructed views of increasingly sprawling airfields dotted with hangars, terminals and moving support vehicles.

While controllers continued looking through glass windows from their elevated perches, the systems helping them manage aircraft improved dramatically. Radar, computers, automated tracking, electronic flight information and advanced ground surveillance transformed air traffic control.

Many of those innovations helped pave the way for the next technological leap: digital towers. In September, a digital tower at Bartow Executive Airport in Florida became fully operational. On Nov. 6, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that a second digital tower was operating at Kenai Municipal Airport in Alaska, and that plans were underway to create five more across the country.

“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.”

Inside a digital tower control center, the view is much like that from a conventional control tower, except the panoramic view comes from high-definition screens rather than floor-to-ceiling windows. At the heart of the system is sophisticated camera technology developed by Austrian company Frequentis. Its smartVISION system uses high-dynamic-range cameras to capture a continuous, 360-degree view of the airport. Software combines the individual feeds into a seamless panoramic image displayed inside the control center.

A separate camera can pan, tilt and zoom in on individual aircraft or activity requiring closer attention. The technology also supports infrared imaging, aircraft tracking, automated object detection and digital labels identifying aircraft and other objects, providing controllers with information that might be difficult to obtain through conventional windows.

The controller’s responsibilities remain essentially unchanged: communicating with pilots, issuing takeoff and landing clearances, and monitoring aircraft moving along runways and taxiways. But instead of looking through windows, the controller watches the panoramic display while consulting computer monitors containing flight plans, weather information and surveillance data. The system can also incorporate a “light gun” to communicate with pilots through visual signals if radio communications fail.

The technology stretches back more than a decade to Sweden, where aerospace company Saab and the country’s air navigation services provider, LFV, pioneered remote air traffic control. On April 21, 2015, Örnsköldsvik Airport became the world’s first airport to operate with remotely provided digital tower services.

The arrangement was remarkable. Cameras installed at the airport transmitted live images to controllers working in Sundsvall, approximately 100 miles away. From their remote control room, controllers watched panoramic displays and communicated with pilots by radio, performing essentially the same duties they would have carried out inside a conventional tower.

Saab’s technology attracted international interest, including demonstrations in the United States, Australia and several European countries. In one Australian experiment, camera images traveled approximately 930 miles from Alice Springs to controllers in Adelaide.

“It’s much cheaper to erect camera systems than to build new towers,” Johan Klintberg, then CEO of Saab Digital Air Traffic Solutions, said in a 2017 company article.

The American deployments follow years of testing at the FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and other facilities. Engineers evaluated image quality, system reliability and the ability to maintain safe operations under demanding conditions.

The deployments come as the nation’s aging air traffic control infrastructure faces intense scrutiny following a series of aviation accidents and operational failures.

On Jan. 29, 2025, an American Airlines regional jet collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, killing all 67 people aboard the two aircraft.

The National Transportation Safety Board concluded in January 2026 that systemic failures involving airspace design, safety oversight and risk management contributed to the disaster. Investigators also identified excessive controller workload, communication problems and shortcomings in collision-avoidance technology. The controller was handling both airplane and helicopter traffic when the aircraft collided.

The investigation highlighted the limitations of relying on visual separation in congested airspace, although investigators did not conclude that digital tower technology would have prevented the collision.

Another deadly accident occurred on March 22, 2026, when an Air Canada Express regional jet collided with an airport firefighting vehicle while landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, killing both pilots. The collision raised additional questions about runway safety and the coordination of aircraft and ground vehicles.

Meanwhile, the FAA is undertaking a broader modernization effort that extends far beyond digital towers.

According to Reuters, Congress approved $12.5 billion over five years in 2025 to upgrade the nation’s aging air traffic control infrastructure. The Trump administration is seeking another $30 billion for improvements that include new towers, software and digital systems.

Some FAA facilities still depend on aging copper communications lines, decades-old computers and even floppy disks. The agency plans to replace outdated floppy disk systems at more than 400 facilities by the end of 2028.

The FAA has identified five additional non-towered airports for digital tower installations: Winter Haven Regional Airport and Venice Municipal Airport in Florida, Montgomery County Airpark in Maryland, Johnston Regional Airport in North Carolina, and Durango-La Plata County Airport in Colorado. Digital tower technology does not necessarily replace an existing control tower; it can also bring tower services to airports that previously lacked them.

Digital towers depend on reliable cameras, communications networks, electrical systems and displays. Equipment failures, cyber threats and interruptions in video transmission must be addressed through rigorous testing and backup systems.

Controllers must still interpret information, communicate clearly and make split-second decisions, often while managing multiple aircraft simultaneously. But after decades of building taller towers to improve visibility, aviation authorities are exploring a different approach.