Get SMART: FAA Picks ASI for Predictive Air Traffic Management

Agency awards a reported 12-year, $875 million contract to startup Air Space Intelligence.

Jack Daleo

Monday, June 22, 2026 at 05:06 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Transportation Department officials envision the system predicting airspace conditions up to six months in advance. [Credit: Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

Startup Air Space Intelligence (ASI) secured an $875 million, 12-year FAA contract to develop the Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes, and Trajectories (SMART) system and the Flow Management Data and Services (FMDS) platform.
The SMART system, an enhancement to the FMDS platform, will proactively predict airspace conditions months in advance by continuously analyzing factors like airline schedules, weather, and airport capacity.
This new technology aims to fundamentally shift air traffic management from reactive to proactive, significantly reducing flight delays and cancellations and improving overall airspace capacity.

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Startup Air Space Intelligence (ASI), which claims its Flyways AI platform manages more than 40 percent of U.S. air traffic, beat out titans Palantir and Thales for an FAA contract to build a system that is capable of predicting airspace conditions months in advance.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) on Monday awarded ASI a contract that Reuters reported is worth $875 million over 12 years. The contract covers the development of Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes, and Trajectories (SMART), which DOT described as an “enhancement” within the FAA’s Flow Management Data and Services (FMDS) platform. FMDS is being developed to replace the existing traffic flow management system (TFMS).