The FAA is extending SMART, an AI tool that advises air traffic controllers on congestion, from Washington-area airspace to all 22 of its centers nationwide, according to an agency statement posted November 10.
The $875 million system went live over the National Capital Region on September 21. Since then, the FAA said, it has helped reroute 180 flights. The agency claims those flights saved an average of 10 minutes and almost 80 gallons of fuel each. In its statement, the FAA said the aim is to reduce delays and fuel consumption and "improve the travel experience for the flying public."
Airline executives have voiced support. The US labor union representing air traffic controllers has said it was not involved in designing or testing the system.
The arithmetic is modest. At those averages, 180 flights add up to about 30 hours of saved flying time and roughly 14,000 gallons of fuel. That is a respectable result for a seven-week trial, but it is the agency's own tally, and it comes from one region. Other centers handle different traffic mixes and weather, so a good result around Washington does not guarantee the same elsewhere.
The union's complaint matters for practical reasons, not only procedural ones. SMART advises; controllers decide whether to act. A tool that suggests reroutes is only as useful as the willingness of the people on the scopes to trust it, and that trust usually comes from being consulted early. Airlines, which pay for delays and fuel, have an obvious reason to cheer. The people who must work with the advice every shift were not part of building it.
The next useful figure is how often controllers follow SMART's suggestions, and whether the 10-minute average holds when 22 centers are using it instead of one.