If communication networks fail, sophisticated prediction software cannot solve the entire problem.
If radar or surveillance systems are unavailable, the situation changes again.
Modern aviation therefore requires both better intelligence and reliable infrastructure.
SMART addresses one part of that challenge.
It does not eliminate the others.
Cybersecurity Will Matter Too
The modernization effort also comes at a time when cybersecurity has become a growing concern for aviation systems.
A September 2026 Reuters report, citing a Government Accountability Office review, highlighted vulnerabilities in communications between controllers and aircraft, including concerns around spoofing, jamming and older communications technology.
That creates another important consideration for AI-supported air-traffic management.
A predictive system is only as reliable as the information it receives.
If data are incomplete, delayed, corrupted or manipulated, predictions can become less reliable.
That does not mean SMART itself is unsafe.
It means the wider architecture surrounding any AI system must be secure, resilient and carefully monitored.
Aviation has extremely high standards for safety because an error can have consequences far beyond the computer system itself.
AI Does Not Remove Uncertainty
There is another misconception worth avoiding.
Artificial intelligence does not mean the FAA can suddenly predict the future perfectly.
SMART can identify patterns and calculate likely outcomes.
But weather forecasts can change.
Aircraft can depart late.
Runways can become unavailable.
Unexpected events can happen.
An AI system can therefore provide probabilities and recommendations rather than certainty.
The FAA's own description emphasizes predictive insights rather than perfect forecasts.
That is why human decision-making remains central.
A controller or traffic-management specialist can consider the AI's recommendation and decide whether the situation warrants action.
The system becomes another source of intelligence.
It does not become the final authority.
A Different Kind of Air-Traffic Control
The most important change SMART introduces may therefore be philosophical rather than technological.
For decades, air-traffic management has had to respond to a constantly changing environment.
Now the FAA is trying to move farther toward anticipation.
Instead of asking only:
What is happening right now?
The system is designed to help answer:
What is likely to happen next?
And then:
What can we do now to prevent the problem?
That is a major shift.
The aviation system already contains enormous amounts of information.
The challenge is turning that information into useful decisions early enough.
SMART is designed to close that gap.
The National Rollout Will Be the Real Test
The Washington deployment is only the beginning.
If the 90-day trial demonstrates that SMART can reliably identify congestion, improve planning and provide useful recommendations, the FAA intends to expand the system.
The broader program is expected to progress toward nationwide implementation, with the system envisioned across the country by the end of 2028.
That expansion would represent a major transformation in how traffic is strategically managed across the National Airspace System.
But scaling from three airports to the entire country is not a simple matter of installing software.
The United States has thousands of airports, a vast network of airways and routes, different weather environments and a huge variety of aircraft operations.
There are major international hubs.
Regional airports.
Cargo networks.
Military operations.
General aviation.
Helicopters.
Emerging advanced-air-mobility aircraft.
Uncrewed aircraft systems.
The FAA's own SMART fact sheet says the system is intended to support growth across the aviation industry and maximize existing airspace capacity, including capacity for new airlines, cargo operators and advanced-air-mobility aircraft.
That makes the long-term objective much bigger than reducing today's flight delays.
The FAA is attempting to build an airspace-management platform that can accommodate a more complicated aviation future.
The Bigger Picture
The United States is entering an era in which the airspace will become more diverse.
Traditional commercial aircraft will continue to dominate passenger aviation, but drones, autonomous systems, space operations and advanced air-mobility vehicles are becoming increasingly important.
Each new category adds another layer of complexity.
More aircraft do not necessarily require entirely new airspace.