FAA's AI-Powered Air Traffic Management System SMART Set for Initial Deployment as Early as September

FAA's AI-Powered Air Traffic Management System SMART Set for Initial Deployment as Early as September

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) this week released new details on its Strategic Management of Airspace Routing Trajectories (SMART) system — an AI-driven air traffic management platform designed to predict weather, traffic, and other flight conditions months in advance — along with a confirmed initial deployment timeline.

Initial Operational Validation to Begin in September

FAA Senior Certification Advisor and Technical Pilot Steve Fulton stated that SMART's initial operational validation will focus on en route airspace above 24,000 feet, with deployment on track to begin in September. He made the remarks at the annual FAA–European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) safety conference held earlier this week.

Fulton drew comparisons between SMART and the FAA's existing Trajectory-Based Operations (TBO) concept. TBO integrates multiple data sources to help controllers anticipate future aircraft positions, reducing the complexity of air traffic management scheduling. He said SMART will further "enhance" trajectory prediction accuracy by incorporating AI and cloud computing, performing "conflict resolution" on each aircraft's predicted trajectory to deliver more precise arrival time estimates.

Human Controllers Remain Central to Safety

National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) President Nick Daniels told media in April that SMART is not, in fact, responsible for aircraft separation.

"Aircraft separation is still handled by humans — human lives are in human hands," Daniels said. "What we have lacked is a tool to help us manage the national airspace system before operations even begin each day."

Thales UAS Integration Division Director Frank Matus echoed that view, emphasizing that SMART's core objective is to reduce delays, cancellations, and schedule deviations — not to replace the safety-critical functions performed by human controllers. Thales is one of three companies known to be competing for the FAA SMART contract, alongside Palantir and Air Space Intelligence (ASI).

"The concept behind this system is to start with strategic conflict resolution in the schedule, then look across the entire National Airspace System (NAS) to identify airspace sectors that may become overloaded at various points throughout the day," Matus explained, adding that the FAA expects the system to forecast airspace conditions anywhere from several hours to six months in advance.

Part of a $12.5 Billion Modernization Initiative

Officials have broadly positioned SMART as a workload-reduction tool rather than a replacement for human output — consistent with the approach taken across other FAA air traffic management modernization efforts. The U.S. Congress last year allocated $12.5 billion for related upgrade programs; Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has since requested an additional approximately $20 billion, indicating those funds would cover SMART and other software-focused upgrades. The Department of Transportation launched a dedicated tracking website for the public in March of this year.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said in April that the three SMART bidders had each built a "true digital twin" of the NAS, "allowing us to use predictive analytics incorporating future schedule information."

Contract Award Expected Soon, With Smaller Firm ASI Favored

The FAA has not yet formally awarded the contract, but The Air Current reported this week that the agency is leaning toward selecting the smaller firm ASI over tech heavyweights Thales or Palantir. ASI claims its Flyways AI system currently manages more than 40% of U.S. air traffic — a factor that may be viewed favorably by the agency.

Sources indicated that a final decision has not yet been made and the outcome could still change; however, an FAA spokesperson said the contract will be officially announced "in the near future."

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