FAA tees up $875M AI tool to help manage air traffic congestion
The FAA has begun deploying an AI-based tool called SMART under an $875 million, 12-year contract awarded in June to Air Space Intelligence to help manage air traffic congestion. The contract also funds development of a new Flow Management Data and Services system intended to replace the current FAA command center system in Virginia.
Why It Matters
If successful, the SMART tool and the Flow Management Data and Services system could change how U.S. airspace is managed by adding predictive capabilities on top of a new operational backbone, at a time when the FAA is modernizing decades-old radar and communications infrastructure. The program raises operational and accountability questions about AI model types, rollout scope, and responsibility for prediction errors.
Key Facts
- Contract value: $875 million
- Contract length: 12 years
- Prime contractor: Air Space Intelligence (Boston-based)
- System names: SMART (predictive layer) and Flow Management Data and Services (backbone)
- Existing platform: Air Space Intelligence's Flyways AI reportedly helps manage over 40% of U.S. air traffic
The Federal Aviation Administration is moving forward with an AI-assisted traffic management tool called SMART as part of a larger $875 million, 12-year contract awarded to Air Space Intelligence in June. The same contract also covers development of a modern Flow Management Data and Services system designed to replace the equipment currently used in the FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center in Virginia. According to the company and reporting on the program, the FAA envisions the Flow Management Data and Services system as the operational backbone, with SMART sitting above it as a predictive layer that would inform traffic-flow decisions. Air Space Intelligence says its Flyways AI platform already contributes to management of more than 40% of U.S. air traffic through customer partnerships, and that Flyways includes a 4D digital twin of national airspace to help forecast traffic and weather conditions. Public reporting indicates the specific types of AI models that SMART will use have not been disclosed. Observers contrast older deterministic systems that always follow set rules, machine-learning models that make probabilistic predictions based on patterns, and generative models—like large language models—that can produce variable outputs and occasional inaccuracies. The FAA did not provide comment to Ars on model details. Questions remain about the scope and oversight of the initial rollout. Industry commentator Mann asked whether SMART’s deployment remains limited to aircraft at or above 24,000 feet, handling cruise traffic and climb/descent flows to metro airports as the FAA said in June. Mann said he will watch for evidence gating any expansion, including performance under real operational workloads and clear assignment of responsibility when predictions are wrong. The FAA’s AI initiative comes while the agency is also undertaking a major, multi-billion-dollar modernization of aging air-traffic infrastructure. That effort includes replacing hundreds of radar systems dating to the 1980s along with radios, telecommunications lines, and voice switches that connect controllers and pilots, a set of upgrades Mann highlighted in commentary.
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