Can the FAA’s New AI System Really Reduce Flight Delays or Could It Create New Problems?
Flight delays have become an almost expected part of modern air travel.
A summer thunderstorm rolls through Chicago. Air traffic backs up in New York. A flight arrives late, the crew times out, passengers miss their connections, and one disruption quickly spreads across the country.
Now, the Federal Aviation Administration believes artificial intelligence may help stop some of those problems before they spiral out of control.
The FAA has selected Air Space Intelligence to develop a new air traffic management platform called SMART—Strategic Management of Airspace, Routing, and Trajectories. The system is intended to use airline schedules, weather forecasts, airport capacity, airspace restrictions, and aircraft-routing information to predict congestion and identify potential conflicts earlier.
The FAA says this technology could reshape how the nation’s airspace is managed, improve traffic flow, increase capacity, and reduce delays for travelers. Initial deployment is expected to begin as early as fall 2026, although the full contract covers 12 years and is reportedly worth approximately $875 million.
It certainly sounds promising.
However, as someone who plans travel for clients and regularly helps people navigate delayed flights, canceled connections, and changing itineraries, I am cautiously optimistic but also skeptical.
What Is the SMART System Supposed to Do?
The easiest way to understand SMART is to think of it as a highly advanced traffic-prediction system for the sky.
Instead of waiting until aircraft are already lined up at the gate, sitting on a taxiway, or approaching congested airspace, SMART is designed to identify potential trouble earlier.
It could analyze thousands of flights and ask questions such as:
Are too many aircraft scheduled to arrive at one airport within the same period?
Is severe weather likely to block a heavily traveled flight path?
Could adjusting several departure times prevent a larger traffic jam later?
Is there a more efficient route around storms or restricted airspace?
Will a developing bottleneck affect airports hundreds of miles away?
The FAA wants to move from a system that often reacts to disruption toward one that anticipates it. The agency has described its broader goal as creating a more balanced and strategically deconflicted National Airspace System.
On paper, that makes a lot of sense.
Flight delays do not exist in isolation. One late aircraft can affect its next flight, its assigned gate, the crew scheduled to operate it, and hundreds of connecting passengers.
Finding the problem earlier could give airlines and air traffic managers more time to respond.
Why I Am Still Skeptical
I use AI regularly, and I have seen how helpful it can be. I have also seen it misunderstand information, make confident recommendations based on incomplete data, and produce an answer that looks logical but does not work well in the real world.
That is fairly harmless when AI is helping write a social media post.
It becomes much more significant when its recommendations affect thousands of aircraft and millions of travelers.
The FAA has emphasized that the system will assist human decision-makers rather than replace air traffic controllers. That is reassuring. Controllers will remain responsible for safely managing and separating aircraft.
Even so, several questions need to be answered before travelers should assume that AI will make flying more reliable.
What Happens When the Data Is Wrong?
An AI system is only as useful as the information it receives.
Weather forecasts change. Airlines alter their schedules. Aircraft develop mechanical issues. Runways close unexpectedly. Crews become unavailable. Airport capacity can change within minutes.
What happens when SMART makes recommendations using information that is already outdated?
A route that looked clear an hour ago may no longer be available. A recommended departure delay intended to avoid congestion could potentially cause passengers to miss connections or lead a flight crew to exceed its permitted working hours.
The system may then need to recalculate thousands of interconnected decisions.
That does not mean the technology will fail. It means the system will need reliable, constantly updated data and humans who can quickly recognize when its recommendation no longer fits the situation.
Could Preventing One Delay Cause Another?
This is probably my biggest concern.
Imagine the system predicts that too many flights are scheduled to arrive in Chicago at the same time. It may recommend delaying several departures at their originating airports.
That might ease congestion in Chicago but what happens to the passengers on the delayed aircraft?
Some may miss connections. The aircraft may arrive too late to operate its next scheduled flight. A crew may run out of legal working time. A gate may no longer be available.
The delay may be smaller for the overall system while becoming much worse for a particular group of travelers.
Airlines have reportedly raised questions about how the FAA will decide which flights should be moved when schedules conflict. That is an important issue because every airline will naturally want its own aircraft and passengers to receive priority.
Will the system treat all airlines equally?
Will larger carriers with more flights receive an advantage?
Will international flights, aircraft carrying large numbers of connecting passengers, or flights to airports with limited daily service receive priority?
Artificial intelligence can identify a scheduling conflict, but humans still need to decide what a fair solution looks like.
Could Airlines Rely on the System Too Much?
Another concern is whether airlines may begin scheduling more flights than airports can realistically handle because they expect the new system to sort everything out.
Technology cannot create unlimited runway space.
A recent example can be found at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, where the FAA extended limits on daily flight operations after airlines planned schedules that exceeded what the agency believed the airport could reliably accommodate. The FAA said competitive overscheduling contributed to poor on-time performance and congestion.
AI may help manage capacity more efficiently, but it cannot solve a basic math problem when more flights are scheduled than an airport, runway system, or air traffic control facility can handle.
In fact, if airlines use improved forecasting as an excuse to pack even more flights into already congested hours, travelers could eventually face the same problems all over again.
The Rollout Could Be Complicated
The FAA is attempting to introduce this technology into an air traffic system that includes older computer systems, different airline platforms, multiple control centers, airport authorities, government agencies, and tens of thousands of daily flights.
Connecting all of those pieces will not be simple.
The FAA’s modernization efforts are needed. Its existing infrastructure has faced years of criticism over aging technology, system failures, capacity limitations, and staffing concerns.
But large technology rollouts rarely happen without problems.
There may be software glitches, communication failures, incomplete data sharing, training challenges, or periods when the new and old systems must operate together.
A poorly managed transition could temporarily create additional delays before it begins preventing them.
The proposed fall 2026 launch is also aggressive. Airline representatives have reportedly questioned whether the platform can be deployed that quickly.
I would rather see the FAA roll the system out carefully, test it thoroughly, and expand it gradually than rush to meet a highly publicized deadline.
AI Cannot Fix Every Cause of Flight Delays
Travelers should also understand what this new system cannot do.
SMART cannot:
Stop a thunderstorm
Clear snow from a runway
Repair a mechanical problem
Replace a sick or unavailable flight crew
Create more airport gates
Instantly solve air traffic controller shortages
Prevent an airline from overscheduling flights
Reopen airspace that has been closed for safety or security reasons
The FAA is also working on controller recruitment, training, infrastructure, and other modernization efforts. AI is one part of a much larger challenge—not a magic solution.
The most realistic benefit may be reducing the ripple effect of a disruption rather than preventing the original disruption itself.
Why I Am Still Hopeful
Despite my concerns, I do believe this technology has real potential.
Air traffic managers already make incredibly complex decisions using weather reports, airline schedules, runway capacity, traffic volume, and changing airspace conditions.
Giving them a system that can process more information and recognize patterns sooner could be tremendously valuable.
If SMART can identify an approaching bottleneck before hundreds of aircraft are caught in it, the FAA and airlines may have more options available.
A small departure adjustment made early could be better than a three-hour delay made after passengers have already boarded.
A precise reroute around a weather system could be better than shutting down an enormous section of airspace.
Better information could also help airlines communicate more accurate expectations to passengers instead of repeatedly delaying a flight in 20- or 30-minute increments.
The technology does not need to eliminate every delay to be worthwhile. Even reducing the number of cascading disruptions would be meaningful.
My Final Take
I want the FAA’s new AI system to succeed.
Travelers deserve a more modern, reliable, and proactive air traffic system. Air traffic controllers and airline operations teams also deserve technology that helps them manage an extraordinarily complicated network.
However, we should not confuse a promising announcement with proven results.
The real test will not be how impressive the system looks during a presentation. It will be how it performs during a busy holiday weekend when thunderstorms are crossing several major airline hubs, flights are already full, and thousands of passengers are trying to make connections.
Will SMART make better recommendations than the current system?
Will airlines and controllers trust those recommendations?
Will the system distribute delays fairly?
Will it reduce congestion or simply move delays from one airport and place them somewhere else?
Most importantly, will there always be experienced human professionals who can override the technology when real-world conditions do not match what the computer predicted?
For now, I am interested, hopeful, and cautiously skeptical.
AI may become a powerful tool for reducing flight delays, but it still needs to prove that making the skies “smarter” will actually make the passenger experience better.
Until then, travelers should continue building reasonable connection times into their itineraries, arriving prepared for disruptions, and working with a travel advisor who can help when the carefully planned journey does not go according to plan.
Technology may continue changing how we travel, but personal service, preparation, and having someone in your corner will always matter.
Memories Await!
