FAA expands AI advice to manage air traffic congestion across entire US airspace

The FAA has expanded its $875 million SMART AI system, which advises air traffic controllers, from Washington, DC airspace to all 22 centers nationwide after it helped reroute 180 flights and saved an average of 10 minutes and nearly 80 gallons of fuel per flight since September 21. The cloud-based tool combines weather, flight path, traffic flow and controller staffing data to recommend schedules, routes and arrival order, though an FAA team in DC validates its recommendations before they reach controllers. Airline executives support the rollout, but the union representing air traffic controllers says it was not involved in designing or testing the system.