Air Traffic Management of the Future
Key Highlights
- ➤Leidos (LDOS) developed L-CAP to unify FAA’s ERAM and STARS systems
- ➤L-CAP also integrates ATOP functions across substantially all U.S.-controlled airspace
- ➤FAA is considering L-CAP among solutions for modernizing air traffic management
- ➤Platform supports AI-assisted traffic prediction and future advanced air mobility vehicles
Expert Statements
Doug Lieberman, Leidos vice president and chief technology officer for air traffic
“Controllers have a very tough job. The mental processing they have to do is astounding. So, the goal is to reduce that cognitive load.”
Doug Lieberman, Leidos Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Air Traffic
“The future of the national airspace system is that control will be done from a holistic standpoint, so that we're optimizing the entire gate-to-gate experience.”
Michael Hawthorne, Leidos' FAA account manager
“extends the benefits of common functionality and a singular data platform across substantially all of U.S.-controlled airspace.”
Michael Hawthorne, Leidos' FAA account manager
“That's the premise behind the "evolution away from air traffic control and toward air traffic management"”
Doug Lieberman, Leidos vice president and chief technology officer for air traffic
“L-CAP is really enabling aviation's future because one of its key aspects is the unified data platform”
Doug Lieberman, Leidos vice president and chief technology officer for air traffic
“We expect to be able to do optimizations that we haven't done before”
Doug Lieberman, Leidos vice president and chief technology officer for air traffic
“L-CAP gives FAA the flexibility to define how it wants to manage air traffic”
Michael Hawthorne, Leidos' FAA account manager
“routine and repetitive communication and potential miscommunication between controllers and pilots”
Doug Lieberman, Leidos vice president and chief technology officer for air traffic
“turns on its head”
Doug Lieberman, Leidos vice president and chief technology officer for air traffic
“Going to exception-based routing, controllers would only need to interact with an aircraft when there's a deviation. That's how we could move from air traffic control to air traffic management.”
Doug Lieberman, Leidos vice president and chief technology officer for air traffic
“When you have eVTOLs moving people from Baltimore to Philadelphia, they could impact that regional airspace and disrupt the classic model of the way airlines work. We expect to see the aviation system realign.”
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESS Newswire / October 1, 2026 / Why it matters * Air traffic is growing and evolving and needs more efficient management * A centralized information system helps controllers manage increasingly crowded skies * System modernization helps to safely accommodate future aircraft types For every aircraft traveling across the U.S. national airspace system (NAS), there's an intricate series of handoffs among air traffic controllers and information systems spread across numerous facilities guiding it to its destination. While the NAS remains one of the world's safest, this sector-by-sector way of overseeing air traffic is facing greater load stress, logistical complexity and data demands.
"Controllers have a very tough job," said Doug Lieberman, Leidos vice president and chief technology officer for air traffic. "The mental processing they have to do is astounding. So, the goal is to reduce that cognitive load."
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