FAA Launches AI Airspace Tool Around Washington

The FAA on September 21, 2026, launched the SMART platform in limited mode for airspace around BWI, Dulles and Reagan National airports. Built by Air Space Intelligence under a 12-year, nearly $876 million contract, it analyzes about 200 data streams. Suggestions are reviewed by FAA staff and local ATC leadership before action. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford unveiled it Monday. Duffy said: "It's always going to be a human that manages the airspace in America. This tool won't manage airspace, but it gives us better information, better data to manage the airspace." Bedford said it supplies data clarity so controllers can maintain safety and traffic separation, with trajectory changes starting that day. The tool aims to reduce delays and cancellations within a $12.5 billion modernization plan. Rep. Don Beyer called Monday for the FAA to suspend the system. The same day an Amtrak crew cut a New Jersey fiber line, triggering a Northeast flight pause; Duffy said on X it underscores the need for funding to modernize aging infrastructure. Bedford called FAA facilities grossly archaic and said current fiber lacks multi-path cloud redundancy. A GAO report Monday found gaps in handling spoofing and jamming threats; a DOT official said the FAA is strengthening its risk assessment process. Gradual expansion is planned.