Boeing 747s receiving key updates through floppy disks, report says

It turns out some parts of the airline industry aren’t as modern as one would think.

A tour of a recently retired British Airways Boeing 747-400 has revealed that the plane was using 3.5-inch floppy disks to keep its navigation databases up to date.

"This database has to be updated every 28 days, so you can see how much of a chore this has to be for an engineer to visit," Alex Lomas, an aerospace specialist with Pen Test Partners – a U.K.-based cybersecurity company – said in a video walkthrough of the commercial jet.

CORONAVIRUS PROMPTS AIRLINES TO HAVE FACE MASK-RELATED 'NO FLY' LISTS

British Airways recently announced that its fleet of Boeing 747-400 aircraft, affectionately known as "The Queen of the Skies," is likely to have flown its last scheduled commercial service.

"After nearly five decades of service and millions of miles flown around the globe, it is proposed that the airline’s remaining fleet of 31 747-400 aircraft will be retired with immediate effect as a result of the devasting impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the airline and the aviation sector, which is not predicted to recover to 2019 levels until 2023/24," British Airways said in a statement on July 17.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS

Described as "fuel-hungry," the planes were slowly being phased out as they reached the end of their working lives, according to British Airways.

FOX Business has reached out to British Airways with a request for comment.