Air traffic control across the United States is expanding the use of an artificial intelligence tool designed to recommend adjustments for alleviating congestion, following an initial deployment in the capital region.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced the nationwide rollout on November 10, bringing the system known as SMART to all 22 of the country’s route control centers. DiarioBitcoin reported that the expansion builds on a regional test that began on September 21 in the airspace above Washington, DC.
The agency attributes the initial deployment to the successful redirection of 180 flights in the Washington area. According to the FAA’s data, those flights achieved an average time savings of 10 minutes and conserved nearly 80 gallons of fuel per journey.
🚨✈️ La FAA llevará su IA a los 22 centros de control aéreo de EE. UU. SMART recomienda rutas y horarios, pero no controla aeronaves. Los controladores pueden aceptar o rechazar sus propuestas. En Washington, la FAA reportó 180 vuelos redirigidos y ahorros promedio de 10… pic.twitter.com/PbmkZd7OV9
SMART functions as a cloud-based platform that aggregates data on weather patterns, flight paths, traffic flow, and controller staffing levels. From these inputs, the system anticipates traffic circulation patterns and generates proposed adjustments for managing aircraft movements.
Rather than issuing direct commands to pilots or assuming autonomous control of aircraft, the tool offers alternatives to the teams responsible for organizing traffic. A central team of specialists based in Washington reviews and validates the system’s recommendations before communicating them to regional facilities.
Local controllers retain the final authority to accept or reject any proposal transmitted to their stations. The FAA emphasizes that the technology serves strictly as an advisory aid and cannot replace the fundamental role of human personnel or take command of an aircraft in flight.
The expansion also follows prior utilization of the system in route control centers located in Atlanta, Jacksonville, and Miami, according to regional reporting. To illustrate its operational capacity, the FAA highlighted a cargo flight arriving at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, where the tool recommended a shortened route, though specific flight identifiers were withheld.
| Metric / Event | Details |
|---|---|
| Initial Deployment Date | September 21, 2026 (Washington, DC) |
| Nationwide Expansion Announcement | November 10, 2026 |
| Target Infrastructure | All 22 FAA route control centers |
| Reported Initial Impact | 180 redirected flights (Washington area) |
| Average Efficiency Gains | 10 minutes and ~80 gallons of fuel saved per flight |
Despite the agency’s focus on modernization, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, representing roughly 20,000 members, said that it did not participate in the design, testing, or implementation of SMART. Because of this lack of involvement, the union indicated it could not comment on the system’s operational effects on the workforce.
Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines, and Robert Isom, CEO of American Airlines, expressed backing for the initiative during the initial deployment announcements.
The FAA also faces a shortage of controllers and other operational challenges, issues that have been reported around the agency. In that context, SMART is being incorporated into a structure where human specialists continue to validate recommendations and local controllers retain the final say, so the technological expansion does not eliminate the dependence on the personnel who organize air traffic.
