Boeing Delivery Rebound Collides With Washington Scrutiny of AI Air Traffic Tool

Boeing Co. delivered 57 jetliners in September, its highest monthly total of the year, giving the planemaker fresh momentum ahead of earnings. Meanwhile, lawmakers in Washington turned on the Federal Aviation Administration’s push into artificial intelligence.

The September figure was up from 51 in August and 55 a year earlier, the company said Tuesday. It included 43 737 Max jets, eight 787 Dreamliners, two 777 freighters and four 767s. Third-quarter deliveries reached 161 commercial aircraft, bringing the total for the year to 475.

Orders were just as strong. A 100-jet 737 Max commitment from Turkish Airlines lifted September orders to 165, and the backlog grew to 6,371 airplanes from 6,156 a month earlier. Production is still the problem. Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg has acknowledged that holding 737 Max output steady at 47 a month is taking longer than planned. Boeing reports third-quarter results on Oct. 27.

On Capitol Hill, attention shifted to the FAA’s new traffic-management platform, known as SMART. In an Oct. 13 letter, 23 Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee asked the Government Accountability Office to examine the system. They said its use of AI raised questions about reliability and the risk that it could generate false safety-critical information. A separate group of House Democrats urged the agency to suspend the tool at Reagan National, Dulles and Baltimore/Washington airports and to answer their questions by Oct. 19.

SMART was built by Boston-based Air Space Intelligence under a 12-year, $875 million contract awarded in June. It combines airline schedules, weather and airport capacity data to predict congestion and suggest alternative routes. The FAA says the tool cannot replace controllers or take control of an aircraft. Administrator Bryan Bedford has said veteran controllers helped design it. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, however, said it had no part in the design or rollout.