FAA starts limited Washington-area use of SMART air traffic tool

The Federal Aviation Administration unveiled SMART on September 21 and said it began using the AI-supported air traffic planning platform in limited mode around Washington, D.C.

That initial use moves SMART from a planned fall deployment into an operational setting. The FAA says the platform brings together 200 data streams—including weather patterns, flight paths, traffic flow and controller staffing metrics—to help aviation specialists anticipate congestion, weather constraints and demand on the airspace system.

SMART, short for Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories, is the FAA’s planning and decision-support system. Despite the similar name, it is separate from Mozilla’s Firefox Smart Window. According to the FAA, SMART’s AI-supported engine synthesizes data and displays aircraft movement, available system capacity, congestion and weather challenges. Staff review every recommendation, while leaders at local facilities can accept or decline its scheduling suggestions.

The FAA says earlier, more complete views of operating conditions can support better routing and more predictable schedules. The agency also claims SMART can reduce delays and cancellations, ease controller stress, lower airline operating costs and ultimately reduce passenger prices. The materials supporting the unveiling include no independent performance measurements for those outcomes.

The FAA said in June that SMART would enhance its Flow Management Data and Services system, with initial operations planned for fall 2026. The September 21 announcement marks the shift from that plan to limited use.

The FAA plans to expand SMART gradually to other parts of the country. The announcement did not provide dates or milestones for that expansion, define which facilities or traffic segments are covered by the Washington-area deployment, or disclose the system’s AI model types, validation results or error rates.