FAA's $875M SMART AI tool to manage DC airspace congestion first

Ars Technica AI · rss · 2026-09-19

The FAA is rolling out SMART, an $875 million AI tool that will start advising air traffic controllers in the congested Washington, DC airspace as soon as September 21, before a planned nationwide rollout. The system uses AI models to predict traffic flows and flag conflicts based on airline schedules, weather, airport capacity and airspace conditions. Former FAA veteran Philip Mann called the limited-scope-first approach the "right call."

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