FAA Chief Meets Airline CEOs on SMART Flight Scheduling Rollout
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford met US airline CEOs to discuss the SMART system, a predictive analytics tool for flight scheduling that begins rolling out this month.
The head of the US Federal Aviation Administration, Bryan Bedford, met with the chief executives of major American passenger carriers on Thursday to discuss the agency's plan to deploy advanced software for overhauling flight scheduling and improving flight management.
Executives from American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and other carriers attended the meeting, which was organised by Airlines for America, the industry's main trade group.
The system, known as SMART, is set to begin rolling out this month. It relies on predictive analytics and will initially be used to reschedule flights cancelled because of bad weather more effectively. Its use could later be extended to other tasks, such as coordinating schedules and flight trajectories before aircraft depart.
"It's going to be transformational," Bedford said in late August. "We'll make much better decisions if we have better decision-making tools."
In June, the FAA awarded an $875 million, 12-year contract to Air Space Intelligence for the system, formally called Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories. It analyses airline schedules, weather, airport capacity, airspace conditions and operational constraints to predict traffic flows and flag potential conflicts before they arise, with the aim of preventing significant congestion and delays.
Airlines for America welcomed the initiative, saying it "will have a direct positive effect on American travelers" by reducing delays and cancellations nationwide. United CEO Scott Kirby said using SMART to open airspace intelligently "has the potential to significantly reduce delays and cancellations during weather events."
The FAA has grappled with congestion for years amid rising demand, runway construction, severe weather and a shortage of air traffic controllers. In April, it ordered airlines at Chicago O'Hare to cut 300 daily flights through October 2027, and in June it extended flight cuts at Newark and other New York-area airports.
Separately, Bedford is scheduled to testify next week before a US House appropriations subcommittee on the status of the $12.5 billion overhaul of air traffic control. The FAA is seeking an additional $10 billion for further improvements.