TIME

MODERNIZE THE SKIES

Replacing technology dating from the 1940s saves fuel, money—and your time

HIGH UP IN AIRPORT CONTROL towers and in darkened tracking facilities, a technological revolution is set to take your next flight into the 21st century.

Known as NextGen, the joint Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and aviation-community program to modernize the skies is sidelining radio technology, which has been largely unchanged since the 1940s, and replacing it with GPS.

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