The Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Transportation have launched a trial of a new AI system called Strategic Management of Airspace Routes and Trajectories, or SMART, at Reagan National, Dulles International and BWI Thurgood Marshall airports. The $875 million system pulls together roughly 200 data streams covering flight paths, weather and staffing to predict delays and cancellations and suggest actions to controllers, who retain final decision-making authority.
cnet.com
· 2026-09-23
Todd Sheridan Yeary, a 13-year air traffic control veteran, publicly criticized the FAA's planned AI system SMART (Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories), saying its intended use—predictive versus prescriptive—remains unclear even to aviation professionals. He said his top concern is that the AI could 'hallucinate' inaccurate data, and insisted any deployment must allow human controllers to override its outputs.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-22
EFF joined the ACLU, ACLU of D.C., and photography trade groups in an amicus brief urging the D.C. Circuit to strike down an FAA drone flight restriction in Levine v. FAA. The rule had barred drones from flying near DHS officers and vehicles, including ICE and CBP convoys, effectively blocking aerial recording of immigration enforcement even from over half a mile away. Although the FAA rescinded the restriction in April after being sued, the petitioner argues the case should still be decided because past violations remain punishable and the agency could reimpose the rule.
eff.org
· 2026-09-22
Airline pilots can earn up to $100,000 in a single month during busy periods, but that pay swings based on seniority, aircraft type, schedule and hourly rate, per the Wall Street Journal. Roughly 4,300 pilots hit the FAA's mandatory retirement age of 65 each year through 2042, often leaving with a combined pension, 401(k) and brokerage assets worth millions, all becoming taxable around the same time.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-09-22
A communications failure at the FAA's Philadelphia air traffic control facility knocked out radar and communications for hours on Monday, after its primary line failed and a backup fiber optic line was accidentally cut by railroad construction crews. The disruption halted flights at Newark, LaGuardia, JFK and Philadelphia airports, with over 600 Newark flights and more than 200 Philadelphia flights canceled before operations gradually resumed by evening.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-22
A construction crew in New Jersey accidentally cut a Verizon fiber cable that supports air traffic control systems, triggering a circuit failure that forced ground stops at all three major New York City airports. The disruption rippled across the Northeast, with FlightAware reporting more than 1,000 US flight cancellations on Monday. Officials are still disputing responsibility, with Amtrak and New Jersey Transit each pointing at the other's contractors while Verizon denies any fault.
theverge.com
· 2026-09-21
An FAA-issued ground stop on Monday delayed hundreds of flights across Newark, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, with reports pointing to a circuit malfunction and an accidentally severed fiber optic cable near Philadelphia's TRACON facility. The disruption coincided with the rollout of SMART, a new AI-driven air traffic management system, though officials have not linked the two events.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-21
SpaceX is targeting September 28 at 8:15AM Eastern for Starship's 14th flight, pending regulatory approval, after pushing the date back from September 22. Unlike prior suborbital tests, this flight will send Starship into orbit for six loops around Earth over 10 hours and deploy 26 operational Starlink V3 satellites into the constellation. The Super Heavy booster will splash down in the Gulf of Mexico, while the upper stage will later be deorbited into the Pacific.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-19
The FAA is rolling out SMART, an AI tool that analyzes airline schedules, weather, and runway capacity to flag potential conflicts in advance, with an initial deployment in Washington DC's airspace beginning Monday. The project carries a price tag exceeding $875 million, part of a broader Trump administration push to modernize air traffic control following several high-profile aviation incidents.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-19
The FAA plans to launch its SMART AI tool as early as September 21 to advise air traffic controllers managing the three major Washington, DC-area airports. The system analyzes airline schedules, weather, airport capacity, and airspace conditions to forecast traffic flows and flag potential conflicts, serving as a limited first phase before a planned nationwide rollout across all US airspace.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-09-18
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.
techspot.com
· 2026-09-18
The FAA announced that laser strikes on aircraft fell for a third consecutive year, with 4,470 incidents reported between January and July 2026, a 24 percent decline from the same period in 2025. California and Texas logged the most reports overall, while New Mexico and Hawaii topped the list per capita.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-17
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