A look at the digital flight strip system used by the FAA

Overview

The FAA is modernizing air traffic control by replacing paper flight strips with a digital flight strip system at 90 airports by 2028, and a live implementation is already underway at 18 airports (Leidos has been implementing since November 2022). Parallel to that rollout, the FAA is pursuing a Common Automation Platform (CAP) contract to consolidate multiple systems, with Leidos among five shortlisted vendors. This is a significant multi-year modernization program that creates opportunities for contractors providing aviation technology, systems integration, software development, and air traffic management solutions. Contractors should act now to assess technical fit, compliance posture, and teaming strategies before formal solicitations appear. Early preparedness improves capture options for primes and subs as the CAP opportunity and follow-on site rollouts surface.

Immediate Actions (This Week)

[ ] Monitor for the official solicitation(s) and CAP updates — subscribe to agency announcements and saved searches for FAA CAP-related activity.
[ ] Map your technical capabilities to digital flight strip and air traffic management needs (identify gaps in software, interfaces to existing ATC systems, and systems-integration experience).
[ ] Assemble an internal capture team (capture lead, technical lead, security/compliance owner, past-performance lead) and identify candidate teaming partners and subcontractors.

Short-Term Actions (30 Days)

[ ] Develop concise capability briefs and architecture sketches that show how your solution addresses digital flight strip functionality and system consolidation.
[ ] Start collecting and organizing past performance and reference materials relevant to aviation technology and systems integration (one-pagers, project summaries, points of contact).

Long-Term Actions (90+ Days)

[ ] Execute a formal gap analysis and remediation plan against named compliance regimes (see Compliance Checklist) and begin compiling evidence packages.
[ ] Build a capture plan for CAP and related FAA modernization work: pricing assumptions, staffing plan, subcontractor roles, and a draft technical approach.

Compliance Checklist

[ ] NIST 800-171 (NIST Special Publication 800-171) — perform a gap assessment against NIST SP 800-171 (NIST Special Publication 800-171) controls and produce a prioritized remediation roadmap.
[ ] FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program) — if proposing cloud-hosted components, evaluate FedRAMP authorization pathways and hosting architecture readiness.
[ ] FAA Order 1370.121 — review operational and procedural requirements in FAA Order 1370.121 and map implementation implications for operations and safety documentation.

Resources

NIST SP 800-171 (regulation text) (https://www.nist.gov/publications/nist-special-publication-800-171-rev-2)
FedRAMP (agency guidance) (https://www.fedramp.gov)
FAA Orders & Notices portal — search for FAA Order 1370.121 (agency guidance) (https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/orders_notices)

How Cabrillo Club Automates This

Cabrillo Signals War Room — Already detected this event and delivered this briefing within minutes. For your team, the War Room will continuously monitor FAA announcements, CAP-related developments, and related policy shifts so you receive immediate alerts when the FAA posts solicitations, amendments, or schedule changes. War Room reduces manual surveillance time and ensures your capture team is the first to know.

Cabrillo Signals Match Engine — When this event changes the competitive landscape, the Match Engine automatically rescopes and rescales your opportunity pipeline. It updates match scores, keyword relevance, and agency alignment in real time so your curated list of high-fit opportunities reflects CAP and digital flight strip priorities without manual re-tagging.

Cabrillo Signals Intelligence Hub — The Intelligence Hub tracks affected agencies and contract vehicles and lets you save searches tailored to CAP and FAA modernization profiles. Configure saved searches and SAM.gov (System for Award Management)-style alert rules so you get notified the moment follow-on solicitations, amendments, or notice postings match this event’s profile.

Proposal Studio (Proposal OS) — Use Proposal OS to generate first-draft technical approaches and compliance matrices tailored to FAA digital flight strip and CAP narratives. The system pulls from your win-theme library and past-performance repository to produce a draft you can iterate on, accelerating bid/no-bid decisions and reducing proposal ramp time.

Proposal Studio Workflow Tracker — The Workflow Tracker enforces a 9-gate capture process from opportunity identification through post-submission. It routes security and compliance reviews to your contracts and legal owners, tracks supplier certificates and evidence for NIST/FedRAMP, and compiles audit-ready documentation packages for submission or oversight reviews.

Call to action: Explore these Cabrillo Club features in your account to set saved searches, initiate a capture workspace for CAP, and generate an initial technical approach draft.