The Federal Aviation Administration is expanding its use of an AI tool that advises air traffic controllers, extending it to every air route traffic control center in the country. The agency announced the move in a statement posted November 10, and it said the system will be used in the airspace of all 22 centers to reduce delays and fuel consumption.

Has the FAA's SMART tool saved time and fuel?

The tool, called SMART, first went live over the Washington, D.C., area on September 21. The FAA says it has helped reroute 180 flights since then, saving an average of 10 minutes and almost 80 gallons of fuel per flight. The agency has not published the full data behind those figures in the materials provided, and it has spent $875 million on the system.

What is the FAA's SMART AI tool?

SMART is a cloud-based system. According to an FAA fact sheet, it combines information about “weather patterns, flight paths, traffic flow and controller staffing metrics” to predict how traffic will move. It is designed to make scheduling recommendations, identify optimal flight routes and determine the best order of aircraft arrivals.

Do air traffic controllers still make the final decisions?

A team of FAA specialists based in Washington has the final say on those recommendations. The agency says that team validates each suggestion before passing it to air traffic control facilities across the country. The FAA has also been clear about the limits of the technology. In its September 21 announcement, the agency said SMART “cannot be used to replace the critical role air traffic controllers play or take over control of an aircraft.” Local controllers can decide whether to accept the recommendations.

Airline leaders have welcomed the expansion. The earlier FAA announcement included supportive statements from Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian and American Airlines CEO Robert Isom.

The controllers’ union has been far less enthusiastic, or at least far less involved. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which represents more than 15,000 members, told Flying magazine that it was not consulted about the “design, testing, or implementation of SMART.” As a result, the group said, it cannot speak to how the system affects the air traffic control workforce.

The rollout has already reached beyond Washington. According to The Dallas Morning News, the FAA extended SMART’s coverage to air route traffic control centers in Atlanta, Jacksonville and Miami. The newspaper also reported that the agency shared an example of the system recommending a shorter, faster route for a cargo flight arriving at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. The FAA did not identify that flight, and it has not said how SMART may have affected passenger flights.

That gap matters because most air travelers fly on passenger planes, and the agency’s published results so far come from a single region and a limited number of flights. The national rollout will test whether those early gains hold up across a far busier and more varied network.

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