Within the continental US, air traffic flying above 10,000 feet is managed by one of 20 Air Route Traffic Control Centers.

Is there a shortage of air traffic controllers?

In 2024, the Federal Aviation Administration employed more than 14,000 air traffic controllers—crucial workers who direct traffic in and out of airports and around legal airspace. However, due to long training programs and the pandemic's aftereffects, as of 2023, nearly half of the agency's 290 facilities are understaffed. The agency has attempted to shift its hiring direction to increase its numbers.

The US air traffic control system is safe but due for major technological updates

On any given day, over 3 million passengers fly on roughly 45,000 flights in the US. Flying today is safer than ever, but air traffic controllers deal with outdated technology that can interfere with pilot communication.

Learn about the bodies that govern the US commercial airline industry, such as the FAA

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulates US air travel, monitoring both safety and advancement. But despite deregulation in the 1970s, the industry has other governing bodies, too, including the US Department of Transportation and the TSA.

View the most turbulent flight routes and airports around the world

Using data from NOAA and the UK Met Office, these maps identify South America as the geographic region with the highest average turbulence. The most turbulent flights in North America are all found in the western United States.

Airports at high elevations, like Denver International Airport, have longer runways than most airports because airplanes cannot take off or land as quickly in thinner air.

Two main types of inflight WiFi connections are air-to-ground and satellite-based

ATG systems rely on aircraft antennae to catch signals from cellphone towers, while the latter uses a network of satellites transmitting data from space. As of 2022, airlines like Delta and United hosted over 1.5 million monthly WiFi sessions.

In the 1940s, pilots flew into thunderstorms to learn about their formation and properties as part of the Thunderstorm Project, the first multiagency meteorological study mandated and funded by Congress.

Scientists use ground-based radar data to detect turbulence within clouds

NCAR developed the NEXRAD Turbulence Detection Algorithm and the Graphical Turbulence Guidance system to provide forecasts up to 18 hours ahead using ground-based Doppler radar data. Software systems also utilize an automated observation and reporting package—the EDR system—found on Delta, United, and Southwest Airlines aircraft.

The turbulence experienced in airplanes results from unexpected changes in airflow

Pilots rely on forecasts, onboard tools, and air traffic control to avoid regions of severe turbulence during flight. Turbulence is generally weaker for those sitting in the front of the main cabin and for morning flights that follow cooler nighttime temperatures.

Most commercial planes get struck by lightning multiple times a year

This piece explains why commercial aircraft rarely crash in thunderstorms, detailing how pilots use onboard radar, shared reports, and strict avoidance protocols to navigate storms that look far more dangerous on screen than in reality.

Nearly 3 million people fly in and out of US airports every day—but not all of those passengers generate revenue for the airlines they purchase their tickets from.

By 2030, experts estimate a 1 in 1000 chance of a plane being hit by space debris

As more satellites and spacecraft are launched, the rate of space debris re-entering Earth's atmosphere, including those that do not burn up completely, increases. International space agencies and air traffic control systems will need to coordinate to develop standardized methods and technical solutions to prevent and minimize future crisis scenarios.

Find out how airline mergers created some of today's largest airlines

Four airlines dominate the US commercial airline industry: Delta, United, Southwest, and American. Many of these large companies secured their top spots in the industry via a series of mergers and acquisitions starting in the 1970s, when American acquired Trans Caribbean Airlines.

To learn more about tropical storms, a specialized fleet of Air Force planes is flown directly into hurricanes to gather data from within the storm.

During flights, cell phones can act like signal jammers as they search for service

When farther from cell towers, these devices expend more energy to emit more powerful signals, which can overwhelm any ground-based tower or radio telescope they fly past. Rather than protecting the flight, airplane mode conserves a cell phone's battery.

The NOAA has a specialized team of researchers that fly directly into hurricanes

The reconnaissance missions gather data for computer models to forecast hurricanes and improve disaster preparedness. Each flight can last eight to ten hours and uses a specialized Air Force fleet.

Explore a map of data centers worldwide, numbering over 12,250 as of August 2026, with over 4,500 in the US.

The Office of Air and Radiation oversees America's clean air and climate programs

The office develops and enforces national standards for air quality, vehicle emissions, and radiation protection. In 2025, the EPA announced the closure of two key divisions under the office responsible for regulating climate and air pollution: the Office of Atmospheric Protection and the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.

The Federal Transit Administration distributes roughly $20B annually to support local transportation

Created by the Urban Mass Transportation Act in 1964, the FTA funds and oversees the roughly 2,200 transit systems that receive federal support across the US, covering everything from subway capital investment to rural bus service.

9/11 permanently changed air travel security in the US with the creation of the Transportation Security Administration.

Go behind the scenes of Air Force One

ABC News takes viewers inside Air Force One, revealing how the president's plane operates as a secure command center in the sky. Explore the logistics and coordination that go into every presidential flight.

Local governments coordinate across jurisdictions through regional councils and planning bodies

Many local governments are part of Councils of Governments or Metropolitan Planning Organizations—regional entities that coordinate transportation, land use, and other shared priorities across city and county boundaries. Federal law mandates their establishment in any metro area with a population over 50,000.

The 9/11 plane crashes, which resulted in the collapse of the Twin Towers, created toxic dust with materials including asbestos, silica, metals, concrete, and glass.

Atmospheric rivers are the largest freshwater transport mechanism on Earth

Serving as highways that carry the water vapor equivalent of up to 15 times the average flow of water at the mouth of the Mississippi River, atmospheric rivers are approximately 400 to 600 kilometers (250 to 375 miles) wide and provide 30-50% of the annual precipitation of the US West Coast.

The informal boundary between the Earth and outer space lies within the atmosphere

Located approximately 100 kilometers (62.1 miles) above Earth's surface, the Kármán line serves as the approximate location where air density is too low to support aerodynamic lift to keep an aircraft airborne. Beyond this height, thrust is needed to propel objects through the air.

The aviation industry built trust in automation by keeping pilots in the cockpit

Nearly 70% of Americans feel uncomfortable riding in a driverless car, and 81% of them would not fly on a pilotless plane. However, automated systems on planes were slowly introduced and advertised as enhancing safety—an approach that may benefit driverless vehicles.

Pilots are familiar with multiple types of turbulence, each with varying severity

Each type is defined based on what disrupts airflow in the atmosphere, including thunderstorms, mountains, and wakes produced by aircraft that previously took off. Pilots classify turbulence as light, moderate, severe, or extreme based on how it affects aircraft movement.

Over 35% of remote-capable US workers worked from home 'all the time' in 2023

With more than 1.3 million remote workers, the New York City metropolitan area had more remote workers than any of the top 30 metro areas in the US at the time. However, the Austin, Texas, metro area had the largest share of remote workers, with more than 23% of the city's workforce working remotely.

View a map of US data center infrastructure in 2025

Thousands of data centers across the country have already been built, with more under construction or planned. Facilities are connected via transmission and fiber optic lines, with the latter spanning an estimated length of 160 million miles.

Welcome to Gander, a tiny town of around 10,000 people in Newfoundland, which took in nearly 7,000 passengers for days after the 9/11 attacks grounded all air travel in the US.

See intact objects found in the wreckage of Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania after its 40 passengers and crew stormed the cockpit, stopping the hijackers from reaching their likely target, the US Capitol Building.

The internet explained at five levels of difficulty, from protocols to internet flattening

Resembling a roadway with traffic laws that all cars must follow, the internet is the hardware that connects a source to a destination, and these connections must follow specific software rules. Although data had to travel through about 10 networks to reach a destination in the past, data centers increasingly consolidate traffic, just as a highway does for cars, to improve data speeds.

In 2024, US airports generated over $1B of revenue—partly due to overpriced airport food

Some in the airport industry argue that charging street prices in airport restaurants isn't sustainable because it's more expensive to run a business inside an airport.

Watch the Panama Canal's lock system lift a ship 85 feet above sea level to cross between two oceans.

View the layout and components that make up a typical data center

Alongside server rooms for the storage, processing, and transmission of data, data centers include climate control systems to manage the heat generated by microchips, backup systems to ensure systems can run during power outages, offices for on-site personnel, and monitoring and security stations to provide continuous protection against physical threats.

View a map of the balancing authorities managing electric systems and costs throughout the continental US

These are made up of utilities, Power Marketing Administrations—hydropower marketers from the Department of Energy—and groups of utilities that have formed regional entities called Regional Transmission Organizations or Independent System Operators. Collectively, balancing authorities ensure supply meets demand and can direct utilities to implement rolling blackouts to prevent permanent damage to electrical equipment.

Track lightning strikes around the world

The Blitzortung platform triangulates the positions of this phenomenon from stations that detect atmospheric interference in low-frequency signals that are characteristic of lightning strikes. A network of nearly 2,000 stations transmits the required data to a central server, where its software performs these calculations and generates the subsequent visualization.

Why Japan builds airports on water

Some of Japan's roughly 100 airports are built on water—that is, engineers have created new land in bodies of water specifically to construct airports. This six-minute video explains why the country is doing so despite the higher cost of such airports.

The drastically different seat tiers on airplanes are a prime example of 'price segmentation,' which is key to keeping airlines profitable.

Research suggests AI data centers may be creating microclimate heat islands

An analysis of satellite data from 2004 to 2024 showed that land surface temperatures in the areas surrounding AI data centers typically increase by an average of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) after they begin running. Across the 6,000 global data centers analyzed by the study, temperatures increased by as much as 9.1 degrees Celsius (16.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence

Severe turbulence over the North Atlantic has increased by 55% over the past 40 years, driven by strengthened jet streams and storm systems. Ongoing increases in global temperatures, which fuel these changes, may triple severe turbulence incidents in the coming decades.

The entire National Park System is located on public lands, but not all public lands are national parks.

Mapping the world's cell towers

Millions of cell towers around the world help connect the world's 8 billion people via cell phones and the Internet. But access to such coverage, while still expanding, is not equal. This data visualization depicts the world's many cell connections across a global map, revealing cell use hot spots and the world's many gaps in coverage.

Data center types vary based on location and the workloads they manage

Enterprise data centers are built on-premises and afford businesses greater control over the management and security of their data. Cloud data centers are built off-site and share their resources with millions of users through an internet connection, with the largest—hyperscale data centers—spanning millions of square feet. Managed data centers offer off-site hardware that companies can lease.

Denver International Airport is associated with numerous dark conspiracy theories

Since opening in 1995, the country's largest airport has spurred a variety of conspiracy theories. Some believe the runways form a hate symbol; others believe its giant horse statue is cursed.

The Kármán line is a suggested boundary between Earth and outer space

Beyond this line, approximately 100 kilometers above Earth's surface, aerodynamic lift is insufficient to keep aircraft aloft without special propulsion systems. The United Nations has historically accepted the line as delineating the boundary of space.

Climate data is monitored globally using tools from satellites to backyard gauges

Scientists use satellites, balloons, ocean buoys, and land-based instruments to track climate variables like temperature, precipitation, and wind. These tools gather data from deep ocean waters to the upper atmosphere.

Transit is funded through a three-tier system, and the federal government is the smallest piece

In 2019, the federal government covered about one-sixth of the $79B spent on public transit. States and localities make up the rest. About 85% of all transit trips are taken by bus or heavy rail, and nearly 4 in 10 US transit trips occur in the New York City metro area.

Global CO2 levels as measured at Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory, managed by the US government’s NOAA.

The Global Monitoring Laboratory conducts research on greenhouse gas and carbon cycle feedbacks, changes in clouds, aerosols, and surface radiation, and recovery of stratospheric ozone.

How fighting wildfires works

Firefighters use sophisticated strategies to control wildfires that sometimes cover thousands of acres. This video breaks down how teams set up fire lines to isolate the fires by cutting down brush and trees around the existing fire, among other...