The FAA’s November 6, 2026 announcement says digital towers are operational at Bartow Executive Airport in Florida and Kenai Municipal Airport in Alaska. It identifies five more airports for future deployment. For a reader assessing the technology, a separate question matters: where is the control center? The word “digital” alone does not answer it.
FAA’s November 6 deployment announcement
The display technology and the location are separate
The FAA describes digital towers as systems that use cameras, sensors and dedicated displays to provide controllers with the visual information needed for their work. Its technical overview says it is replacing the term “remote tower” with “digital tower” to avoid implying that a facility must be off-airport. Both on-site and off-site arrangements are possible; older materials may still use the earlier term. Its FAQ adds a funding condition: systems supported by the Airport Improvement Program or another applicable grant program must be on property owned by the airport or leased to the airport sponsor.
FAA technical overview, updated September 29: terminology, placement and funding condition
That distinction changes how an infrastructure briefing should be written. A camera installation at an airport establishes where images are captured, not automatically where controllers view them. Likewise, a picture of a video wall does not identify the airport it serves or the building that contains it. Attach location evidence to the relevant part of the system.
Keep the controller in the description
The FAA’s background guide describes a real-time panoramic airfield view and reproduction of airfield audio in the control room. It discusses evaluation of visual performance, including the delay between an event and its appearance on a display. The deployment announcement says controllers continue managing the airspace. These descriptions concern tools supporting controllers; they do not establish an autonomous air-traffic-control service.
FAA background guide: displays, audio and evaluation
Try a fictional project briefing
Imagine an entirely fictional airport project whose public summary says that cameras will send images to a digital control center. A facilities manager preparing a briefing should leave the center’s address unconfirmed until a source identifies it. The proposed camera site and the proposed controller workspace belong in different fields.
If a later project document places the workspace in an on-airport building, update that field. The use of digital displays has not changed; the new document has answered the location question. This example is a reading exercise, not a description of the Bartow or Kenai installations.
Use a compact evidence record
- Airport and source date: identify the specific project and the dated evidence.
- Image capture: record the documented camera or sensor location.
- Controller workspace: record its documented location, leaving unknown details open.
- Status: distinguish an operational installation from a future deployment.
Keep those facts together when summarizing a rollout. Do not infer that every future airport in an announcement already has operating equipment or that the same building arrangement applies everywhere. No facility was inspected and no operational system or safety performance was independently tested for this article.