FAA set to deploy Smart AI tool in Washington airspace Monday

Initial rollout smaller than industry officials anticipated

The Federal Aviation Administration is preparing to launch an AI-powered air-traffic management tool in the Washington, D.C. area as soon as Monday, according to government and industry officials, marking the first deployment of an $875 million, 12-year contract won earlier this year by Air Space Intelligence.

The software, known as Smart — short for Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories — analyzes airline schedules along with weather, airport runway capacity and operational constraints to predict air-traffic flows and identify potential conflicts before they occur. When fully deployed across U.S. airspace, the software is intended to function as the central coordinating layer of the nation’s air-traffic control network.

The initial rollout is smaller than some aviation industry officials had anticipated after months of planning. Smart will function as a decision-making aid when disruptions arise rather than as an autonomous routing system; future capabilities are expected to include spacing out arrival times and planning routes days in advance. Federal officials said the limited debut was always planned as a way to validate the software before expanding.

The Trump administration has directed billions of dollars to upgrade the nation’s aging air-traffic infrastructure with new technology. The administration has also worked to ramp up hiring and training of air-traffic controllers, a workforce whose chronic shortfalls are frequent sources of flight disruptions.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, a former regional airline executive, told senators earlier this year that “The way we manage traffic today is chaotic, and we can do better. We need to manage that at the FAA, rather than rely on commercial airlines to simply schedule however they want.”

FAA officials have been discussing with airlines how to coordinate their schedules as part of the software’s broader rollout. Industry officials have had questions about how the system would work, particularly given carriers’ fierce competition to operate flights at certain times of day.

Federal officials are also planning to unveil a central office for the tool at the Transportation Department’s headquarters on Monday, according to government and industry officials.

Airlines for America, an industry trade group representing major U.S. carriers, said Smart has the potential to bolster safety, increase capacity and improve efficiency that will benefit travelers and shippers. The group called it “one of the most exciting and bold initiatives taken on by the FAA in decades.”