Inside airlines' panic as FAA pushed new AI tool

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David Ake/Getty Images POLITICO reports airlines are cautious but optimistic about an AI tool for airspace management.

The tool aims to reduce flight delays by predicting and managing airspace congestion.

Confusion over the FAA's vague description of its much-hyped plans eased in the past week.

Airline industry officials have finally stopped panicking about the Federal Aviation Administration 's soon-to-launch artificial intelligence tool for managing flights and easing congestion in air travel, multiple people familiar with the situation told POLITICO.

Weeks of industry confusion over the FAA's vague description of its much-hyped plans eased in the past week when agency officials told them they would use the tool in just a limited way at first, said the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations.

The tool, dubbed Strategic Management of Airspace Routing Trajectories, or SMART, is set to debut in coming days, offering advice to air traffic controllers managing flights for the three airports that serve the nation's capital, according to two industry officials.

The hope, according to FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford , is that after a 90-day testing period the tool will be rolled out on a wider scale.

Before the FAA eased the airlines officials' concerns, one of their biggest worries was how extensively the AI would be integrated into day-to-day air traffic management, one of the industry people said.

"I think that's what people were freaking out about," the person said.

Instead, according to another industry official, the SMART tool is not expected to create any new procedures for air traffic controllers or for the airlines.

It will simply generate alternative route information that is passed through the FAA's existing systems and procedures.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has touted the tool , aimed at easing congestion in the skies.

But three airline officials said the industry was bewildered for weeks about how the system would work, and that a sustained series of meetings with the FAA had left them with more questions than answers.