GoKawiilFAA to debut AI air traffic tool SMART in Washington, DC next week
The FAA plans to launch SMART, a cloud-based AI system built by Air Space Intelligence, in the Washington, DC air corridor next week as the start of a phased nationwide rollout. The tool analyzes flight schedules, weather, and airport capacity to give airlines and controllers a shared view of traffic flow and potential conflicts, and was developed under an $875 million FAA grant.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
US air traffic control relies on aging, fragmented systems—an FAA review found over a third are unsustainable—while controller shortages persist nationwide. A shared AI data layer like SMART won't replace controllers but could ease coordination bottlenecks faster than traditional infrastructure upgrades, which can take a decade or more.
- SMART launches in Washington, DC next week as first step in a broader FAA rollout.
- The system pools airline, controller, and weather data to predict congestion and conflicts.
- It's part of a Trump administration push to modernize aging FAA infrastructure amid staffing shortages.
Source: techspot.com — Daniel Sims, 2026-09-18
Published there as: “Air traffic control assisted by AI could arrive as soon as next week”
Read the original report → The summary and analysis above are GoKawiil's own, written from reporting by the source above. Facts and quotes belong to the original publisher.