Alaska removes an old radio beacon, changing how planes navigate a federal airway

The Federal Aviation Administration is changing the route of a federal airway in Alaska. This is because an old radio beacon that planes used to navigate is being decommissioned.

For decades, air navigation relied on ground-based radio beacons. As technology advances, these older systems are being phased out and replaced by satellite-based navigation. This small change in Alaska is a tiny piece of a global shift in how planes find their way.