SMART oversight
Data updated · v0.1.3
SMART oversight
Who has questioned the rollout of ASI’s software, what they asked, and what answer they got.
Award to first live use
3 months
June 22 to Sept. 21, 2026
Lawmakers asking for a pause
25
All Democrats · letter of Oct. 9
Asking GAO to review
23
House Transportation Committee Democrats
En route centers covered
22 of 22
Since Nov. 10, 2026
| Date | Who | Type | What they said or did | Response | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-21 | Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) | Statement | Called for SMART to be suspended at launch, saying his constituents should not be test subjects for an unproven AI system. | Duffy called the criticism “complete stupidity”; Beyer later reported a constructive conversation with Bedford. | commondreams.org · nextgov.com |
| 2026-09-22 | National Air Traffic Controllers Association | Statement | Said it was not involved in the design, testing or implementation of SMART and that new technology should complement controllers’ judgment. | FAA says staff review every recommendation and facilities can decline them. | flyingmag.com · nextgov.com · transportation.gov |
| 2026-10-09 | 25 Democratic lawmakers led by Rep. April McClain Delaney | Letter | Asked Duffy and Bedford to pause SMART and answer questions on safety testing, training, the planned 90-day evaluation and accountability, by Oct. 19. | No public FAA reply found; the tool was not paused. | airwaysmag.com · aerotime.aero · citizenanalyst.ai |
| 2026-10-13 | 23 House T&I Committee Democrats | GAO request | Asked the GAO to review the FAA’s safety risk management, metrics and deployment strategy for SMART and FMDS. | Not known whether GAO has accepted the request. | nextgov.com · fedscoop.com |
| 2026-10-15 | Politico report on FAA equity stake | Press report | Internal FAA document shows a term sheet for an equity stake and warrant in ASI. The agency would be customer, safety overseer and investor. | FAA said it could not comment; ASI did not respond. | flyingmag.com · avweb.com · aerotime.aero |
| 2026-11-10 | FAA | Agency action | Expanded SMART to all 22 en route centers and reported 180 flights rerouted with average savings of 10 minutes each. No baseline or method given. | The update did not address the lawmakers’ questions. | flyingmag.com · aerotime.aero |
| 2026-11-13 | Nationwide ground stop | Incident | Communications failures halted departures three days after the national expansion. | ASI says the stop was not a result of SMART; Duffy attributes it to telecom work by L3Harris. Root cause not established. | ivn.us · cnn.com |