Smarter Skies: FAA's New System Aims to Stop Delays Before They Start

America’s air traffic system is about to get a lot smarter. 

This month, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) begins rolling out SMART, a predictive analytics platform designed to spot congestion hours before it happens and reroute traffic before the first aircraft leaves the gate. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford met with the chief executives of American, United, Delta, Southwest and other major carriers on September 10 to walk them through the plan.

His verdict? “It's going to be transformational.” 

What SMART actually does

SMART stands for Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes, and Trajectories. It pulls together airline schedules, weather forecasts, airport capacity, airspace conditions and operational constraints, then crunches them to predict where traffic flows will jam up.

The idea is simple. Rather than reacting once delays have already piled up, controllers and airlines get a heads-up early enough to do something about it.

The FAA awarded Air Space Intelligence an $875 million, 12-year contract for the system in June. Its first job will be helping airlines reschedule flights knocked out by bad weather more efficiently. Over time, its role is expected to grow into coordinating schedules and flight paths across the national airspace before departure.

Industry on board

Airlines for America (A4A), the trade group that convened the meeting, said the initiative “will have a direct positive effect on American travelers.” Carriers expect more efficient routings and clearer information about system capacity, with safety untouched.

That backing matters. After a summer of storms and hub congestion, the industry and its regulator are pulling in the same direction.

Part of a bigger rebuild

SMART is one piece of a $12.5 billion overhaul of air traffic control, with the FAA seeking a further $10 billion for future improvements. Bedford testifies before a House appropriations subcommittee next week on progress.

For passengers, the payoff is straightforward: fewer surprises, better decisions and, crucially, more flights that leave on time.