Three airports in the Washington, D.C., area, including two in Virginia — Dulles and Reagan — will be a testing ground for a new AI tool meant to predict congestion problems before they happen. The new tool, SMART (Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories) will centralize “diverse data streams – weather patterns, flight paths, arrival/departure statistics, controller staffing metrics – into one platform to help the FAA better visualize
the airspace and take action before problems arise,” according to a fact sheet put out by the FAA.

The rollout occurs as public concerns about AI are rising and Gov. Abigail Spanberger has signed an Executive Order that significantly elevates the expectations for data centers — the backbone that makes artificial intelligence go.

Rep. Don Beyer has come out strongly against the SMART tool. “The FAA should not use my constituents as guinea pigs for an unproven AI air traffic control system. The safety of the 24 million people traveling through DCA each year must be the top priority. Residents of this region are still uncertain about air safety after last year’s fatal accident, and the Administration did shockingly little to educate the traveling public about this development before implementing it in one of the most complex airspaces in the world.”

According to the FAA, “SMART cannot be used to replace the critical role air traffic controllers play or take over control of an aircraft. All of SMART’s recommendations are reviewed by FAA staff, and local leadership at air traffic control facilities can choose to accept or pass on these scheduling suggestions.”