FAA expands AI advice to manage air traffic congestion across entire US airspace

The US government has expanded the use of an AI tool for advising air traffic controllers to assist in managing air traffic across the entire national airspace system. Airline executives have voiced support for the rollout, but the US labor union representing air traffic controllers has said it was not involved in designing or testing the AI-driven system.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says the $875 million SMART system has helped reroute 180 flights since being implemented in airspace over Washington, DC, on September 21. The agency claims that this saved an average of 10 minutes per flight and almost 80 gallons of fuel per flight—and it is apparently hoping such results can be replicated nationwide through the expanded deployment.

“After a successful initial rollout to the National Capital Region in September, the FAA will now use SMART in the airspace of all 22 centers across the country to reduce delays, reduce fuel consumption and improve the travel experience for the flying public,” according to the agency statement posted on November 10.

The FAA fact sheet describes SMART as a cloud-based system that combines information about “weather patterns, flight paths, traffic flow and controller staffing metrics” to predict air traffic patterns. It is designed to make scheduling recommendations, identify optimal flight routes, and determine the best order of arrivals for aircraft.

However, a human team of FAA specialists based in DC is ultimately responsible for validating the SMART system recommendations before passing them along to air traffic control facilities across the country, according to the agency.