The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is set to introduce a new artificial intelligence (AI) system by Monday, 21 September 2026, as part of wider attempts to overhaul the way US air traffic control (ATC) is implemented.
The “SMART” system (standing for Strategic Management of Airspace Routes and Trajectories) comes under a 12-year, $875-million (around €762 million) contract from Air Space Intelligence, to support both the FAA and airlines with operations, schedules, and to reduce delays and cancellations.
COMING TOMORROW: America’s skies get SMARTER 👀 pic.twitter.com/daYzgPgEFP
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) September 20, 2026
Originally bound for a broad nationwide release, reports emerged of concerns from officials at three airlines who wanted to reduce the scope of the project with a “Start, crawl, walk, run” approach. Consequently, the AI system will now be phased in as part of a smaller rollout to the three airports serving Washington DC (Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Dulles International Airport, Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, where a 90-day trial period will ensue before going national. The system is expected to be in place across the country by the end of 2028.
Despite the smaller than expected initiation, the advent of the SMART system has nonetheless been hailed by trade body Airlines for America as “one of the most exciting and bold initiatives taken on by the FAA in decades.”
What we are doing with modernizing aviation and air traffic control under @POTUS has never been done before and it will be the BEST in the WORLD 🇺🇸✈️
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) September 10, 2026
I explain it all to the gang on @RuthlessPodcast 👇 pic.twitter.com/1Tgk4SbD1J
The AI’s role will be to analyse flight schedules, cross-referenced with weather information, airport capacity data, and operational constraints, helping to predict and avoid congestion. Officials also anticipate future developments will allow the system to manage arrival intervals and carry out advance schedule planning up to 45 days ahead—something over which critics have said the FAA should have greater control, instead of the current situation that sees airlines jostling for prized slots. In addition to the launch of the SMART programme, the FAA plans to open a central office at the Department of Transportation headquarters in Washington DC.
In a statement earlier in the year, FAA Administrator, Bryan Bedford, explained why a new approach is required: “The way we manage traffic today is chaotic, and we can do better. We need to manage that at the FAA, rather than rely on commercial airlines to simply schedule however they want,” he said.
.@FAA_Bryan credits @POTUS and @SecDuffy for their leadership building America's modernized air traffic control system."
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 15, 2026
"We are executing on the most ambitious modernization project of our time and delivering it in record time." pic.twitter.com/LpCV4YkBgN
The SMART programme comes after a period of chaos and confusion around the safe and efficient management of America’s skies. Industry layoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic, failure to re-recruit sufficient ATC workers, failure to pay federal workers during government budget standoffs, the impact of severe weather systems, quality and safety concerns at Boeing, and a series of accidents and near-misses, have created the perfect storm that has informed Trump administration thinking about the need for centralisation.
The move also coincides with an ongoing international conversation about the role of AI in society and how best to mitigate the risks it entails. Against that backdrop, US officials have sought to reassure the public and industry that human air traffic controllers are not being replaced. Instead the AI system is intended to work in a support role.
