“There is a lot of conversation about AI and who is controlling the airspace,” Duffy said during a press conference marking the SMART launch, which will be used at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Dulles International Airport and Baltimore/Washington International Airport. “It’s always going to be a human that manages the airspace in America.”
Bedford told reporters that he showcased this technology to airline CEOs “a few weeks ago” and that the demonstration “opened their eyes about the inefficiencies in the airspace and how much work we’re our controllers to … have to sort out.”
Even as FAA debuted its new AI tool Monday, the agency was confronting a familiar problem: decades-old infrastructure failures.
An equipment outage at a Philadelphia air traffic control facility snarled operations across the Northeast on Monday, with ground stops and delays lasting hours at Newark Liberty International, John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia airports after a primary circuit failed and a backup fiber line was found to be severed. According to video posted by CBS News, Bedford said the fiber break is “massive” and happened as a result of construction somewhere between New Brunswick and Newark, New Jersey. He said it will likely take 13 hours to repair.
Duffy on X said that Amtrak accidentally cut into the line during construction, causing the incident. Amtrak did no respond to request for comment.
Monday’s rollout comes after POLITICO reported that some airline officials were hesitant to adopt the program. Several meetings, including the one between Bedford and airline CEOs on Sept. 10, however, helped ease some of that uncertainty, two airline officials, granted anonymity to discuss the ongoing conversations with FAA, told POLITICO.
Showcasing the system at DOT, Bedford said the AI tool will use real-time data to better inform how controllers oversee the airspace. He said that sometimes, weather systems often move quickly while aircraft remain stuck on the ground waiting for controllers — who are busy managing dozens of flights — to act.