Aviation regulators turn to AI to help manage the nation's airspace

An American Eagle plane takes off from Hollywood Burbank Airport in October 2025 in Burbank, California. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption

WASHINGTON — The federal agency in charge of air traffic control is turning to artificial intelligence to help manage the nation's airspace.

The Federal Aviation Administration officially launched its ambitious $875-million-dollar software overhaul on Monday, announcing the rollout would begin at three major airports that serve the Washington, D.C. region.

The new system is known as Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories, or SMART for short.

"By fundamentally reshaping how we manage our airspace and preventing problems before they happen, SMART will slash those frustrating delays, reduce stress on air traffic controllers, and lower travel prices," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement .

Regulators and airlines hope the AI-enhanced tool will make flying more efficient, though critics warn that it won't solve bigger problems with the air traffic control system.

FAA and DOT leaders emphasize that the new technology is not intended as a replacement for human air traffic controllers. They describe it as a tool that's supposed to make controllers' jobs easier by reducing congestion and conflicts in the air before they happen.

"The way we manage traffic today is chaotic and we can do better," said FAA administrator Bryan Bedford during a Senate hearing earlier this year. "We need to manage that at the FAA, rather than rely on commercial airlines to simply schedule however they want."