FAA tees up $875M AI tool to help manage air traffic congestion
FAA tees up $875M AI tool to help manage air traffic congestion
美国联邦航空管理局（FAA）斥资 8.75 亿美元部署 AI 工具，以缓解空中交通拥堵
An AI tool is set to start advising air traffic controllers on managing air traffic in the congested airspace above the Washington, DC, area. The expected launch would be the first step toward a planned nationwide rollout covering the 29 million square miles of US national airspace overseen by the Federal Aviation Administration. 一款人工智能工具即将投入使用，为华盛顿特区上空繁忙空域的空中交通管制员提供管理建议。此次启动预计将迈出全国推广的第一步，最终覆盖由美国联邦航空管理局（FAA）监管的 2900 万平方英里美国国家领空。
The FAA describes the SMART system as using AI models to predict air traffic flows and identify potential conflicts based on operational factors like airline schedules, weather, airport capacity, and airspace conditions. US government and industry officials told The Wall Street Journal that SMART could debut for the three major airports in the Washington, DC, area as soon as Monday, September 21. FAA 将 SMART 系统描述为利用人工智能模型，根据航班时刻表、天气、机场容量和空域状况等运营因素，预测空中交通流量并识别潜在冲突。美国政府和行业官员向《华尔街日报》透露，SMART 最快可能于 9 月 21 日（周一）在华盛顿特区的三个主要机场投入使用。
The decision to launch SMART in a limited scope before going nationwide is the “right call,” said Philip Mann, principal consultant at Vector Strategic Consulting LLC, where he advises on aviation safety and AI governance. Mann previously worked at the FAA in multiple roles for 17 years. “SMART’s risk was never any single prediction—it is a national-scale system with AI components carrying more unknowns than anything the FAA has fielded,” Mann wrote in an email to Ars. “Every cut in scope shrinks the unknowns.” Vector Strategic Consulting LLC 的首席顾问菲利普·曼（Philip Mann）表示，在全国推广前先进行小范围试运行是“正确的决定”。曼曾为该公司提供航空安全和人工智能治理方面的咨询，此前他在 FAA 工作了 17 年，担任过多个职位。曼在给 Ars 的邮件中写道：“SMART 的风险从来不在于某一次预测，而在于它是一个国家级的系统，其人工智能组件所带来的未知因素远超 FAA 过去部署过的任何系统。缩小范围的每一次尝试，都在减少未知数。”
The AI-driven forecasts and recommendations are meant to give the FAA, airlines, and aircraft operators the same shared view of operational conditions so that they can agree on the most efficient routes and departure times. The goals of SMART include reducing aircraft fuel burn, improving on-time performance for flights, and speeding up recovery from weather and air traffic congestion events. 人工智能驱动的预测和建议旨在让 FAA、航空公司和飞机运营商对运营状况拥有统一的认知，从而就最高效的航线和起飞时间达成一致。SMART 的目标包括减少飞机燃油消耗、提高航班准点率，并加快从恶劣天气和空中交通拥堵事件中恢复的速度。
However, the airline industry was reportedly confused for weeks about the agency’s plans to deploy the AI tool, according to Politico. Anonymous airline officials told Politico that their concerns only eased after the FAA said the SMART AI tool would not change any procedures for air traffic controllers or airlines, and would instead produce “alternative route information” that is made available through existing FAA systems. 然而，据《政治报》（Politico）报道，航空业对该机构部署人工智能工具的计划感到困惑已久。匿名航空公司官员告诉《政治报》，直到 FAA 表示 SMART AI 工具不会改变空中交通管制员或航空公司的任何程序，而是通过现有 FAA 系统提供“替代航线信息”后，他们的担忧才有所缓解。
SMART is part of an $875 million, 12-year contract awarded to the Boston-based company Air Space Intelligence in June. The contract also covers development of a Flow Management Data and Services system meant to replace the current system in the FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center in Virginia. In an article for Global Airspace Radar Magazine, Mann described the new Flow Management Data and Services system as the “backbone,” whereas SMART represents the “predictive layer above it.” SMART 是今年 6 月授予总部位于波士顿的 Air Space Intelligence 公司一份价值 8.75 亿美元、为期 12 年合同的一部分。该合同还涵盖了“流量管理数据与服务系统”的开发，旨在取代 FAA 位于弗吉尼亚州的空中交通管制系统指挥中心目前的系统。曼在为《全球空域雷达杂志》撰写的一篇文章中，将新的流量管理数据与服务系统描述为“骨干”，而 SMART 则代表了“其上的预测层”。
Air Space Intelligence claims its separate Flyways AI platform already helps manage over 40 percent of all US air traffic through partnerships with customers like Alaska Airlines. That platform incorporates a 4D digital twin of US national airspace to help predict air traffic and weather conditions. It is unclear what types of AI models are being used in the new SMART system. Air Space Intelligence 声称，其独立的 Flyways AI 平台通过与阿拉斯加航空等客户的合作，已经帮助管理了美国 40% 以上的空中交通。该平台结合了美国国家领空的 4D 数字孪生技术，以帮助预测空中交通和天气状况。目前尚不清楚新的 SMART 系统使用了哪种类型的人工智能模型。
Older deterministic AI models follow predefined rules and logic to consistently produce the same output every time, whereas machine-learning models can statistically analyze patterns to make predictions based on the probabilities at hand. By comparison, generative AI models—such as the large language models powering popular AI chatbots—generate outputs that can change every time and may also be inaccurate. Ars reached out to the FAA for comment. 较旧的确定性人工智能模型遵循预定义的规则和逻辑，每次都能产生一致的输出；而机器学习模型则可以通过统计分析模式，根据现有概率进行预测。相比之下，生成式人工智能模型（如驱动流行 AI 聊天机器人的大语言模型）生成的输出每次都可能发生变化，且可能存在不准确性。Ars 已联系 FAA 请求置评。
Mann wants to know whether the SMART rollout is still limited to managing aircraft flying at 24,000 feet and above, as the FAA described in June. In that case, the system’s software would be handling “cruise traffic transiting that airspace, plus the climbs and descents feeding the metro airports,” Mann explained. “What I will be watching is what evidence gates the next expansion: performance under real workload and degraded data rather than demonstration conditions, and a written answer to who owns the outcome when a prediction is wrong,” Mann told Ars. 曼想知道 SMART 的推广是否仍仅限于管理 24,000 英尺及以上高度飞行的飞机，正如 FAA 在 6 月份所描述的那样。曼解释说，在这种情况下，系统软件将处理“穿越该空域的巡航交通，以及为大都市机场提供服务的爬升和下降航班”。曼告诉 Ars：“我将关注的是什么证据决定了下一步的扩展：是在真实工作负载和数据降级情况下的表现，而非演示条件下的表现，以及当预测错误时，谁来承担后果的书面答复。”
The government’s plan to launch AI-assisted air traffic management comes as the FAA manages a multi-billion-dollar effort to upgrade aging equipment that supports air traffic control and management. The agency has just started replacing hundreds of radar systems dating back to the 1980s, along with radios, telecommunication lines, and the voice switches that connect calls between air traffic controllers and pilots, Mann pointed out in a Substack post. 政府推出人工智能辅助空中交通管理的计划，正值 FAA 斥资数十亿美元升级支持空中交通管制和管理的老旧设备之际。曼在 Substack 的一篇文章中指出，该机构刚刚开始更换数百个可追溯至 20 世纪 80 年代的雷达系统，以及无线电、电信线路和连接空中交通管制员与飞行员通话的语音交换机。
The first trial run for the AI tool also comes as the FAA has been grappling with a decades-long shortage of air traffic controllers after President Ronald Reagan fired more than 11,000 controllers in 1981. Since that time, the air traffic controller workforce has operated in a “permanent crisis,” with minimum staffing levels, according to Mann. 该人工智能工具的首次试运行，也正值 FAA 在罗纳德·里根总统于 1981 年解雇了 11,000 多名管制员后，长期面临空中交通管制员短缺的困境。据曼称，自那时起，空中交通管制员队伍一直处于“永久性危机”中，人员配置处于最低水平。
Attempts to hire more air traffic controllers have fallen short, and the overall workforce declined by 6 percent over the past decade, according to a US Government Accountability Office report published in December 2025. Recruitment efforts were complicated by government shutdowns in 2013 and 2018–2019 that froze hiring and training, along with training restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. 根据美国政府问责局 2025 年 12 月发布的一份报告，招聘更多空中交通管制员的尝试均未达标，过去十年中，总体劳动力减少了 6%。招聘工作因 2013 年和 2018-2019 年的政府停摆（冻结了招聘和培训）以及与新冠疫情相关的培训限制而变得复杂。
In 2025, the FAA was among many federal agencies that saw hundreds of new probationary hires get laid off by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team at the start of the second Trump administration. Although air traffic controllers were spared, the job cuts affected some employees who worked on air traffic control systems. A federal judge eventually ordered the FAA to reinstate 132 employees. The air traffic controller workforce was further stressed by having to work without paychecks during a 43-day government shutdown from October 1 to November 12, 2025. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy claimed 15 to 20 air tr 2025 年，在特朗普第二届政府初期，FAA 与许多联邦机构一样，有数百名新入职的试用期员工被埃隆·马斯克领导的所谓“政府效率部”（DOGE）团队解雇。尽管空中交通管制员幸免于难，但裁员影响了一些从事空中交通管制系统工作的员工。一位联邦法官最终下令 FAA 恢复 132 名员工的职位。在 2025 年 10 月 1 日至 11 月 12 日长达 43 天的政府停摆期间，空中交通管制员因无法领取薪水而承受了更大的压力。交通部长肖恩·达菲（Sean Duffy）声称，15 到 20 名空中交通管制员……