Jack's Rants - Floppy Disks at 35000 Feet - Why Boeing 747s Still Use Floppy Disks for Flight Management Systems

The Boeing 747 is often cited online as proof that aviation still runs on floppy disks — but the reality is a bit more nuanced. In this Rant, we take a closer look at how certain older aircraft, particularly some 747-400 configurations, still use floppy disks to load navigation data into their Flight Management Systems. It's not about being outdated — it's about reliability, certification, and systems that have proven themselves over decades of operation.

We also compare this against the wider IT world, where legacy systems continue to power critical operations for the exact same reasons. From aviation to enterprise IT, the story isn't about old technology refusing to die — it's about why replacing it is often far more complicated than it seems.

00:00 Old Tech in Flight
01:14 747-400 Spotlight
02:17 Why Floppy Disks?
03:48 Industry Examples
07:48 IT World Mirror
09:22 Modern Tensions
09:58 Lighthearted Wrap