Federal aviation officials on Monday launched an artificial-intelligence-powered air traffic control tool at the three main airports serving the Washington area, the Transportation Department said.
The software, known as SMART, is expected to help the Federal Aviation Administration and airlines reduce delays and cancellations by identifying problems earlier, according to an FAA fact sheet.
The software is first being implemented in the D.C. area, at Reagan National Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport and Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport, before gradually expanding to other parts of the United States, according to the Transportation Department.
“By fundamentally reshaping how we manage our airspace and preventing problems before they happen, SMART will slash those frustrating delays, reduce stress on air traffic controllers, and lower travel prices,” Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said in a statement.
SMART stands for Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories. The software uses AI to analyze airline schedules and factors such as weather and airport capacity to predict air traffic flows and identify potential conflicts before they occur, according to the fact sheet.
In April, Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy told CBS News that AI will not replace humans in managing the airspace.
“This software will say, ‘Well, listen, we can see this 45 days out. Let’s move some of those flights a little bit later, or five, seven, 10 minutes earlier, and we can resolve the issue. And so then you are not delayed,’” he said.
Ella Atkins, an aerospace engineering professor at Virginia Tech, said she has doubts about the tool’s purported efficacy, in part because details remain scant.
“If you look at the FAA fact sheet, it’s all about ‘Here’s all the stuff it does’ and almost nothing about ‘Here’s the technology behind it,’” Atkins said.
The fact sheet describes SMART as a cloud-based platform system that enhances existing air traffic management systems. The Transportation Department said the tool centralizes different data streams, such as weather, flight paths and controller staffing metrics, into one platform.
Chronic understaffing is a perennial problem with the air traffic control system in the United States. Last year, the FAA published a report indicating it needed 14,633 controllers to be fully staffed. But earlier this year, it reduced that estimate by more than 2,000 positions, emphasizing that more efficient scheduling could offset the need for more controllers. The FAA said about 11,000 certified controllers were deployed across its air traffic facilities as of April.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford has previously said the air traffic control system needs improvement.
Coordinating air traffic is very complex, particularly during bad weather, according to Tom Lintner, who worked at the FAA for decades. He said he is optimistic that the AI tool could be useful.
“It could generate an awareness level that we normally wouldn’t have until the day of or hours before, and that buys the system time to figure out alternatives,” he said.
The industry trade group Airlines for America called SMART “one of the most exciting and bold initiatives taken on by the FAA in decades.”
In a statement, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association union said it was not involved in the tool’s design, testing or implementation. It said it “believes any new technology should complement and not replace the experience, training, and professional judgment of air traffic controllers who are responsible for the safety of the National Airspace System.”
Airlines are fiercely competitive over securing optimal and profitable routes, including at National, which is an American Airlines hub.
“When done thoughtfully and methodically,” programs like SMART “will offer enhanced benefit to the traveling public,” American Airlines chief executive Robert Isom said in a statement.
Other major airlines said they welcomed SMART, including United Airlines, which has a hub at Dulles.
“If it works as we think it can, it will do more to reduce delays and cancellations than anything that’s happened in decades,” United Airlines chief executive Scott Kirby said in a statement.
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