FAA to deploy $875M AI air traffic management platform (SMART) from Air Space Intelligence, starting in Washington D.C.

The FAA plans to deploy SMART, a cloud-based AI platform built by Air Space Intelligence, under an $875 million contract running 12 years. The system is meant to analyse airline schedules, weather, airport capacity and airspace conditions to predict traffic flows and flag conflicts. It will launch first in the Washington D.C. metro area before any wider rollout, though no start date is given.

If it works as described, this puts AI-driven traffic prediction into a safety-critical system used by controllers managing US airspace, at a moment when the FAA is short-staffed on controllers. That affects airlines, passengers and the controllers themselves, and an $875 million, 12-year commitment signals the FAA sees this as core infrastructure rather than a pilot. But the impact is currently theoretical: there is no detail yet on how controller workflows actually change day to day, what performance the system must hit, or when D.C. deployment begins.

This is TechCrunch summarising a Wall Street Journal report that itself appears to be based on a one-page readout, not an FAA announcement or a public contract notice. There is no primary source link, and the extraction confirms no primary evidence is present. Framing this as a fix for the controller shortage is the FAA's and vendor's framing, not a demonstrated outcome, since nothing here shows the system actually reduces workload or delays.

1. 01FAA or DOT official announcement, press release, or contract notice (SAM.gov award record) confirming the $875M figure, contract terms, and Air Space Intelligence as vendor
2. 02A published date or timeframe for the Washington D.C. metro rollout, plus any defined performance or safety benchmarks SMART must hit
3. 03Independent confirmation beyond the WSJ readout, such as controller union (NATCA) statements or FAA technical documentation describing how SMART changes controller workflow