FAA Launches AI System to Predict Flight Delays Days in Advance

The Federal Aviation Administration is deploying an artificial intelligence platform designed to forecast flight delays and traffic conflicts before aircraft leave the gate, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Monday.

The system, called SMART—Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories—will enter a 90-day pilot phase covering Reagan National, Dulles, and Baltimore/Washington International airports in the Washington region. The FAA plans broader deployment following the trial period.

How the system works

SMART operates as a cloud-based platform that ingests multiple data streams: airline schedules, weather forecasts, airport capacity limits, airspace conditions, and operational constraints. By synthesizing these inputs, the system generates predictions about traffic flows and potential bottlenecks.

The platform provides airlines, the FAA, and other operators with a unified operational picture before departure, enabling them to coordinate more efficient routes and adjust departure or arrival windows. According to the FAA, SMART can identify potential issues days, weeks, or even months in advance—a significant departure from current systems that largely respond to delays already in progress.

Why it matters

Flight delays cost airlines billions annually in operational expenses and passenger compensation, while passengers lose productive time and miss connections. An AI system that shifts traffic management from reactive to predictive could reduce cascading delays that ripple through the national airspace system. For airlines, earlier visibility into constraints means better crew scheduling, fuel planning, and customer communication. The technology also represents a test case for how AI can augment—rather than replace—human expertise in safety-critical transportation systems.

Part of broader modernization effort

SMART is a component of the FAA's Flow Management Data and Services (FMDS) program, which aims to replace the agency's legacy Traffic Flow Management System. FMDS will serve as the data backbone for the FAA's command center operations.

The FAA awarded Air Space Intelligence a 12-year contract worth $875 million in June to develop both SMART and the underlying FMDS platform. The agency has emphasized that air traffic controllers will retain final authority over aircraft separation and safety decisions—the AI serves as a decision-support tool, not an autonomous system.

The FAA expects SMART to deliver multiple operational benefits: reduced delays and cancellations, lower fuel consumption, faster recovery from weather disruptions, and increased effective airspace capacity. Success in the Washington pilot could accelerate adoption at major hubs nationwide.

These details were first reported by The National News Desk.