It looks ahead
The FAA describes a system that identifies potential conflicts before they occur and helps airlines and operators agree on more efficient routes and departure times.
Independent analysis · Not affiliated with the FAA
The FAA AI traffic tool, explained
SMART is the FAA’s new AI planning layer for U.S. airspace. It does not control aircraft or replace controllers — it recommends routes to the people who do. Here is what it actually does, what the FAA says it has saved, and what it may mean for your next flight.
22
U.S. centers where the FAA says SMART is now used
180
flights rerouted since 21 Sep, per the FAA
10 min
and ~80 gal of fuel saved per rerouted flight, per the FAA
Reroute savings calculator
FAA-reported averages, applied to your traffic. Fuel and block time only.
flights
min
gal
$/gal
Projected annual jet-fuel savings
$377,556
per year
182.5block hours saved / yr
87,600gallons saved / yr
838tonnes CO2 / yr
Copied
Model, not forecast. FAA-reported averages multiplied by your inputs; no crew, maintenance, or passenger-time benefits. CO2 at 9.57 kg per gallon of jet fuel. Method →
The short version
A planning layer, not autopilot
SMART — Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories — is a cloud platform that gives controllers and aircraft operators the same view of the national airspace before flights depart.
About 200 data streams
Weather patterns, flight paths, traffic flow and controller staffing metrics are centralised into one platform — the FAA’s own description of the input side.
Humans still decide
Recommendations are validated by FAA specialists, routed through the Command Center, and offered to local facility leadership — who can accept or pass. Controllers keep separation.
“SMART cannot be used to replace the critical role air traffic controllers play or take over control of an aircraft. All of SMART’s recommendations are reviewed by FAA staff.”
FAA statement, 21 September 2026 · faa.gov
Verification chain
From 200 streams to a local decision
This is the part most coverage skips. SMART is not wired directly to a radar scope: its output passes through two FAA layers and one local decision before anything changes.
01 / Ingest
Collect the airspace
About 200 streams — weather, flight paths, flow, controller staffing — feed one cloud platform.
02 / Model
Find the conflicts
SMART identifies potential conflicts and proposes routes and departure times before flights leave the gate.
03 / Verify
Humans in Washington
A team of FAA specialists at the SMART center in D.C. analyses and validates the data, then sends scheduling recommendations to the Command Center in Warrenton, VA.
04 / Decide
Local leadership chooses
The Command Center routes recommendations to facilities. Local leadership can accept or pass. Controllers remain responsible for separation.
Deployment
From one region to the whole country, in 50 days
The FAA moved from a limited Washington, D.C. trial to nationwide airspace use in less than two months. The timeline, with sources.
-
22 Jun 2026
Contract awarded to Air Space Intelligence
A 12-year, $875 million award reported from contract records; the FAA release itself describes two technologies, FMDS and SMART, and does not state the value.
-
21 Sep 2026
Limited use around Washington, D.C.
FAA: “began using SMART in a limited mode today in the airspace around Washington, D.C.”
-
9–13 Oct 2026
Lawmakers push back
A pause request at DCA, IAD and BWI, then a request that GAO audit SMART and its safety-risk process.
-
10 Nov 2026
All 22 centers
FAA: “will now use SMART in the airspace of all 22 centers across the country.” Nationwide airspace use is not the same as a finished system.
-
13 Nov 2026
A ground stop, and a denial
A nationwide ground stop lasted about four hours after communication issues. ASI and the Transportation Secretary said SMART was not involved.
Read this before you quote the numbers.
The 180 flights, 10 minutes and 80 gallons are FAA-reported figures covering 21 September onward. The agency
has not published a baseline, a comparison period or an audited method, and no independent evaluation has
been made public.
Nationwide use ≠ full build-out.
The FAA says it is now using SMART in all 22 centers’ airspace. It has not published a completion date
for the system’s full capability, and a GAO review has been requested but not confirmed.
What we do not do here.
We do not show SMART output, because none is public. We do not attribute your airport’s delay to SMART.
The live airport status page uses FAA NAS data — a different system entirely.
Delay impact
What SMART can — and cannot — do for delays
Turn the FAA’s reported averages into a number you can inspect. The model behind the calculator is simple on purpose: every assumption is on screen.
SMART is a strategic planning tool. Its effect appears in the aggregate — fewer airborne holds, earlier reroutes, less fuel burned — not as a promise about one flight number.
180 flights is a small sample.
Over roughly seven weeks in one region, that is a few flights a day — enough to measure, too
small to generalise from.
“Saved” is an attribution.
Without a published counterfactual, the 10 minutes is the FAA’s estimate of what would otherwise
have happened.
Your flight can still be late.
Weather, crew, maintenance and gate capacity sit outside SMART’s scope. Check the airline for your
flight, and this site’s airport page for airport-wide events.
Scrutiny
Who reviewed it, and who did not
The FAA says every recommendation is reviewed by its own staff. The controllers’ union says it was not involved. Both statements are on the record.
The FAA
“All of SMART’s recommendations are reviewed by FAA staff”
The agency describes SMART as a planning layer alongside existing systems, with controllers remaining responsible for separation.
NATCA · controllers’ union
“Not involved in the design, testing, or implementation”
The union says it therefore “cannot speak to its effect on the air traffic control workforce.” That is non-involvement, not opposition.
House Democrats
“Serious questions about its reliability”
Twenty-three members asked GAO to review the FAA’s safety-risk process, performance metrics and deployment strategy. A review has been requested, not confirmed.
What we could not verify.
No published independent safety review of SMART was found as of 14 November 2026, and the FAA has not published
a completion date for full capability. If that changes, this page changes with it — see our
corrections policy.
Different system, real data
Check today’s airport status
Ground stops, ground delay programmes, arrival and departure delays, and closures — pulled live from the FAA’s public NAS feed, with the retrieval time attached.
Primary sources
Where every number comes from
FAA statements are quoted as published. Contract values and the ground-stop sequence are attributed to the outlets that reported them, because the agency’s own releases do not carry them.
Full source list- FAA statement: SMART begins limited operations · 21 Sep 2026
- FAA SMART one-pager (PDF) · Sep 2026
- FAA general statements: nationwide use, 180 flights · 10 Nov 2026
- Nextgov: $875M, 12-year award to Air Space Intelligence · 22 Jun 2026
- Ars Technica: nationwide expansion, union not involved · 11 Nov 2026
- Letter: 23 members request a GAO review (PDF) · 13 Oct 2026
- The Hill: ASI denies link to 13 Nov ground stop · 13 Nov 2026
FAQ
Questions people actually ask
What is the FAA AI traffic tool SMART?
SMART stands for Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories. It is a cloud-based planning platform that centralises about 200 data streams — weather, flight paths, traffic flow, controller staffing — and proposes efficient routes and departure times before flights depart. The FAA describes it as a planning layer that works alongside existing systems, not as a control system.
Is SMART running everywhere in the U.S. now?
The FAA said on 10 November 2026 that it “will now use SMART in the airspace of all 22 centers across the country,” after starting in Washington, D.C. airspace on 21 September. That is nationwide airspace use, not a completed system: the FAA has not published a completion date for full capability. See the deployment tracker.
Does SMART replace air traffic controllers?
No — not according to the FAA’s own limits. “SMART cannot be used to replace the critical role air traffic controllers play or take over control of an aircraft,” the agency said, and “air traffic controllers remain responsible for keeping aircraft safely separated.” Recommendations are reviewed by FAA staff and can be declined by local facility leadership.
Will SMART reduce delays on my flight?
Possibly, indirectly, and not predictably. SMART targets system-wide flow: earlier reroutes, fewer airborne holds, better use of capacity. It does not control weather, crew, maintenance or gate availability, and no public data ties a specific flight’s punctuality to the tool. Treat any claim that a given flight “was saved by SMART” with care unless the airline or FAA says so.
How much time and fuel has SMART saved so far?
The FAA’s figure, from 21 September to 10 November 2026: 180 flights helped to reroute, an average of 10 minutes saved per flight, and almost 80 gallons of fuel saved per flight. The agency has not published a baseline or method, so these are attributed figures rather than audited results. We use them as calculator defaults and label them as FAA-reported everywhere.
Who built SMART, and what did it cost?
The FAA awarded Air Space Intelligence (ASI) a contract in June 2026 for two technologies: FMDS, described as the new technological backbone of the Command Center, and SMART, an enhancement within it. Reporting based on contract records puts the award at 12 years and $875 million; the FAA’s own announcement does not state the value or term.
Is SMART safe? What do critics say?
The FAA’s safety case rests on human review at every step. Critics — including 23 House Democrats who asked GAO to audit the programme — say the reliability and safety benefits are unproven, that published performance metrics are missing, and that the union representing controllers was not involved in design, testing or implementation. We found no published independent safety review as of 14 November 2026, and the GAO review has been requested, not confirmed.
Why is there no live SMART data on this site?
Because none is public. SMART is an internal FAA decision-support system; its recommendations are not published as data. Anyone offering a “SMART feed” is showing something else. The airport status page here uses the FAA’s public NAS status feed and says so on every result.
How does your calculator work?
It multiplies four inputs — rerouted flights per day, minutes saved, gallons saved, fuel price — over a year, then converts time to block hours and fuel to CO2 at 9.57 kg per gallon. The defaults are the FAA’s reported averages. Nothing is sent to a server; the arithmetic happens in your browser. Full assumptions are in the methodology.