Why The FAA Is Turning To AI To Fix The Skies

U.S. air traffic management relies on legacy systems, some of which have been in place since the 1960s. U.S. airlines carried approximately 60 million passengers annually in 1960, but today they handle nearly 1 billion passengers systemwide. While passenger numbers have increased exponentially over the decades, the system that manages all that added air traffic has not kept pace.

Airspace congestion and weather disruptions continue to cause significant delays that cascade through the country, with airlines and passengers demanding greater reliability.

“The current NAS operation has a limited ability to anticipate the effects of the number and timing of forecasted flights and the effects of unplanned events such as weather, runway closures, and other capacity limits. Additionally, it doesn’t identify and take advantage of large amounts of available airspace. We react to, rather than predict, these constraints, resulting in bottlenecks throughout the day, which have ripple effects throughout the entire country,” the FAA states in its announcement. “Compounding the situation, the data controllers rely on – from weather patterns to airport capacity – are all housed in different systems. Controllers often have to use numerous screens and spreadsheets to access this crucial information.”

As part of its push to modernize NAS operations, the FAA is turning to predictive technology instead of reactive traffic management.

According to the FAA, the Flow Management Data and Services will “be the new technological backbone” of its Air Traffic Control System Command Center. The system balances air traffic demand with capacity and provides data to support more efficient traffic management. The FAA explains that the second technology innovation, Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes, and Trajectories (SMART), an enhancement within FMDS, applies that data to avoid congestion and delays by coordinating schedules and aircraft trajectories in advance of flights.

“We’re already making remarkable progress on upgrading the radars, radios, and telecom wires air traffic controllers rely on thanks to the Working Families Tax Cut. But to really improve the flying experience for the traveling public, we must change how flights are managed,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “We’re thrilled to partner with ASI to begin developing these two new software platforms. Once implemented, we will fundamentally reshape how the airspace is managed – slashing thousands of delays and cancellations in the process.”

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford added: “Every day, our air traffic professionals knowingly manage thousands of scheduling conflicts across the National Airspace System, which ultimately end up as delays for the traveling public. FMDS with the SMART capabilities will help us address that challenge by improving how we manage airspace before flights depart, reducing congestion, easing controller workload, and directly cutting down delays across the system.”

How Air Space Intelligence Will Enhance U.S. Air Traffic Management

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Boston, ASI specializes in developing AI-driven aviation software for airlines and defense organizations. Under the new FAA contract, ASI‘s FMDS and SMART platforms will help the FAA anticipate demand and manage traffic before bottlenecks develop.

FMDS analyzes flight plans, airline schedules, and aircraft position updates to estimate traffic flows and capacity limitations across the National Airspace System. It also uses predictive modeling to coordinate flight reroutes around severe weather that would disrupt operations, and streamlines data exchange between the FAA and operators in the airspace.

SMART is a cloud-based platform system that continuously analyzes airline schedules, weather, airport capacity, airspace conditions, and other operational constraints to predict traffic flows. It provides air traffic controllers and aircraft operators a shared view of the National Airspace before flights depart. In this way, it helps the FAA, airlines, and other operators agree on the most efficient flight routes and timings to avoid congestion.

“President Trump, Secretary Duffy and Administrator Bedford are delivering on their commitment to build the future of American aviation,” said Phillip Buckendorf, CEO, Air Space Intelligence in the FAA’s announcement. “This is an exciting moment for the millions of Americans who rely on air travel every day and for the airlines, airspace operators, and aviation stakeholders who keep our system moving. The FAA is embracing commercially proven technology already helping everyone from major airlines to the broader aviation community operate more efficiently and predictably. ASI is honored by the opportunity to support America’s Air Traffic Controllers and contribute to a safer, more predictive and more efficient national airspace system.”

Flight Delays Cost Airlines And Travelers Billions

A Federal Aviation Administration-sponsored study published in 2010 estimated that delays cost the U.S. economy nearly $33 billion annually, with passengers absorbing more than half of those losses. A 2008 study by Congressional economists put the figure even higher, at roughly $41 billion. In today’s dollars, that would be between $50 and $63 billion in annual costs, assuming that the level of air traffic disruptions remained stable, but they have only worsened over the years.

The Government Accountability Office has repeatedly warned that aging FAA systems require urgent modernization as disruptions ripple across airline networks, impacting passengers. The FAA’s own 2025 modernization plan cites a September 2024 GAO report that highlights risks posed by aging systems.

In that context, the FAA’s $875 million investment in Air Space Intelligence’s AI-powered air traffic management tools is a relatively modest wager that could pay off for airlines and passengers if the company’s predictive software can eliminate even a fraction of those costs.

For their part, U.S. airlines welcomed the new software contract.

“We are grateful for Secretary Duffy’s and Administrator Bedford’s leadership and dedication to deliver President Trump’s vision of a modernized air traffic control system,” said Chris Sununu, CEO of Airlines for America, which represents the country’s major carriers, in the FAA’s announcement. “SMART leverages the latest technologies to make air traffic more efficient and timely while maintaining our gold standard of safety. This program is an encouraging step forward and demonstrates how the FAA is making worthwhile investments in our airspace infrastructure. Airlines are coordinating closely with the FAA to ensure SMART will provide more efficient routings and more predictable information about system capacity in order to balance capacity and demand. We appreciate the FAA’s willingness to work with airlines to ensure this program provides benefits to the traveling and shipping public. A program of this kind has been talked about for decades, and this administration is finally taking action.”

The FAA plans to apply this new ASI software to NAS management beginning this fall. If successful, the technology platforms could significantly improve how the world's busiest airspace is managed.