The FAA has expanded SMART across US airspace, moving the AI-powered advisory system from its initial Washington, DC deployment to all 22 air route traffic control centers. The agency says the rollout is meant to reduce delays, cut fuel use and improve the travel experience for the flying public.
The FAA said SMART had already helped reroute 180 flights since it began operating over Washington, DC, on September 21. In that use, the system saved an average of 10 minutes per flight and almost 80 gallons of fuel per flight, giving the agency a built-in test before the nationwide expansion.
SMART in the National Capital Region
In its fact sheet, the FAA described SMART as a cloud-based system that combines weather patterns, flight paths, traffic flow and controller staffing metrics. It is designed to make scheduling recommendations, identify optimal flight routes and determine the best order of arrivals for aircraft.
A human team of FAA specialists based in DC validates SMART recommendations before they go to air traffic control facilities. Local air traffic controllers can decide whether to accept the suggestions, and the FAA said SMART cannot be used to replace the critical role controllers play or take over control of an aircraft.
Atlanta, Jacksonville and Miami
After the initial deployment in Washington, DC, the FAA expanded SMART to air route traffic control centers in Atlanta, Jacksonville and Miami in Florida. The November 10 announcement extends that same tool to all 22 centers, turning what began as a regional test into a nationwide operating system for traffic management.
The rollout also gives the FAA a way to apply the same routing logic across the national airspace system instead of limiting it to one corridor. For passengers, that means the agency is now using the same advisory tool on a much wider set of flights, including the cargo example the FAA gave for Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
Union objection
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association said it was not involved in the design, testing or implementation of SMART and said it could not speak to the system’s effect on the air traffic control workforce. Airline executives voiced support for the rollout, leaving the FAA to defend a system that now reaches every center while the controllers’ union remains outside the process that built it.
The immediate question for travelers is how much of the early Washington, DC gains carry over nationwide. The FAA has already put the tool into all 22 centers; what follows is whether the same routing and fuel savings hold when SMART is applied across the full US airspace network.
