September 19, 2026
AI will predict airspace congestion 45 days ahead: FAA activates system over Washington
The FAA activates SMART over three Washington airports on 21 September: for the first 90 days, the system only advises, while decisions remain with controllers.
$875 million over 12 years. That is what the FAA is paying startup Air Space Intelligence for a system that will begin planning flights over Washington on Monday.
The startup won the contract from Palantir and Thales (Flying Magazine, 22.06.2026). Washington has become a testbed: by the end of 2028, the FAA plans to deploy the system nationwide.
Controllers are not being replaced. SMART makes no decisions and introduces no new procedures into controllers’ work. The system reads schedules, weather forecasts, runway capacity, and operational constraints, then suggests rerouting options. People will still separate aircraft.
Previously, the schedule in the sky emerged from airline plans. Now the FAA wants to calculate congestion itself, looking 45 days ahead. Agency head Bryan Bedford sums up the project in one sentence: “The way we manage traffic today is chaotic, and we can do better.”
The technology is already flying. Alaska Airlines has been running Flyways from the same developer in its operations center for four years. Over a year, the airline saved 1,2 million gallons of fuel, while on flights longer than four hours, gains reached 3–5% (Alaska Airlines press release, 09.08.2024).
The first phase is designed for about 90 days, and the FAA plans nationwide deployment by the end of 2028.
