FAA Expands $875 Million SMART AI Tool Nationwide Following D.C. Test

The Federal Aviation Administration expanded its $875 million Strategic Management system nationwide on November 10, 2026. This activated the software across all 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers just three days before a rare national ground stop.

The cloud-based platform uses predictive artificial intelligence to analyze roughly 200 data streams, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Air Space Intelligence developed the system. “Using AI, SMART analyzes airline schedules, weather, airport capacity, airspace conditions, and operational constraints to predict traffic flows and identify potential conflicts before they occur,” the administration said in a system fact sheet cited by Mashable.

The rollout follows an initial deployment in the Washington, D.C., region that began on September 21, 2026. During that trial around Reagan National, Dulles, and Baltimore/Washington International airports, the tool rerouted 180 flights, Yahoo News reported. Those flights saved an average of 10 minutes and nearly 80 gallons of fuel per flight.

The nationwide expansion coincided with an aviation stoppage that halted domestic flights across the United States. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told the press that the stoppage stemmed from a “telecommunications outage,” Mashable reported. Mullin answered questions about potential links to the new software.

“You can’t rule out anything at this point. We are going through that process and we are going to find out what happened. When we do, we’ll take the appropriate actions to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Mullin said.

Air Space Intelligence issued a statement on X distancing its software from the operational halt. “The current ground stop is not based on or a result of the SMART system, any product of ASI or our integration with FAA and ATC,” the company wrote, as reported by Mashable.

Federal officials said human controllers maintain final authority over airspace management. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that there is “always going to be a human that manages the airspace in America,” Gizmodo reported. A dedicated operations center reviews recommendations before controllers receive them, and local facilities retain the power to reject suggested routing changes.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association told Gizmodo that frontline personnel had no involvement in developing the technology. “Concerningly, the nation’s frontline aviation safety workforce apparently had little to no input into SMART’s development and have received limited training and information during the current deployment process,” House Democrats wrote in a letter requesting a review by the Government Accountability Office. This followed the $875 million program launch.

Earlier coverage: FAA Lifts Nationwide Ground Stop, But Delays and Cancellations Continue

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