FAA launches $875M AI system

The Federal Aviation Administration is deploying SMART, an AI tool that analyzes airline schedules, weather, and runway capacity to prevent flight conflicts. It starts Monday in Washington DC airspace.

SMART becomes the brain

When fully rolled out, SMART will act as the brains of the nation's air traffic control system, automatically identifying conflicts and optimizing routes across all US airspace.

“when fully rolled out across US airspace, the software is supposed to act as something like the brains of the nation's air-traffic control system.”

Duffy promised weeks of planning

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said SMART could help controllers plan flights 45 days in advance by shifting departure times by minutes to resolve bottlenecks before they happen.

“we can see this 45 days out. Let's move some of those flights a little bit later, or five, seven, 10 minutes earlier”

Airlines pushed back hard

Airline officials feared SMART would recommend mass cancellations and rescheduling to avoid bottlenecks. They asked the FAA to scale back the rollout and start small instead of full deployment.

“Let's narrow the scope of this. Start, crawl, walk, run.”

FAA scaled back the plan

After industry meetings, the FAA agreed to limit SMART's role. It will only suggest alternative routes when traffic backs up, not directly manage day-to-day operations or make cancellation decisions.

“the AI wouldn't be directly integrated into day-to-day air traffic management”

Industry now calls it bold

Airlines for America, representing major carriers, now backs the plan as one of the FAA's most exciting initiatives in decades after the agency addressed their concerns.

“one of the most exciting and bold initiatives taken on by the FAA in decades”