The Federal Aviation Administration is struggling to cope with a nationwide air traffic control shortage. The reasons for the shortage vary, but the government has made it clear it is looking for innovative solutions to the problem.
One of those solutions appears to be an $875 million AI software program that is expected to help air traffic controllers manage their workflows and navigate flight routes more safely.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the FAA will soon launch SMART (Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes, and Trajectories). This is an automated software program designed to help streamline air traffic operations.
The program’s one-page description describes SMART as a “cloud-based platform system that enhances existing FAA air traffic management systems.” The program uses AI to “evaluate airline schedules, weather, airport capacity, airspace conditions, and operational constraints to predict traffic flow and identify potential collisions before they occur,” it added.
SMART, a product of a company called Air Space Intelligence, will pay the government that amount over 12 years, the outlet wrote. The software will be rolled out first in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and then expanded to other areas.
Earlier this year, the FAA also announced a “bold new” hiring plan that it said would “resolve long-standing talent shortages,” and the government is separately undertaking a broader effort to modernize the nation’s aging air transportation system.
