FAA orders U.S. ground stop after outage as SMART developer denies role

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide pause in departures from U.S. airports on November 13 after a communications failure affected centers that manage flights between airports. In a 5:46 p.m. Eastern update, the FAA’s command center kept the ground stop in place and said it would coordinate departures as those facilities recovered. The notice did not identify the equipment or software that failed. San Francisco International Airport later said Pacific-bound flights could depart, including those headed to Hawaii and Asia.

Three days earlier, the FAA had announced that SMART, an AI-assisted traffic planning tool, would be used in airspace covered by all 22 of its centers. Air Space Intelligence, which developed the tool, said its software and integration with air traffic control had not caused the stoppage. The rollout gives traffic managers across the country access to congestion forecasts and proposed adjustments before flights depart.

The FAA tied departures to recovery at its centers

The first nationwide advisory was issued at 3:54 p.m. Eastern. It directed aircraft operators to hold departures at U.S. airports until further notice for safety, with inbound international flights handled individually. The order concerned departures. Aircraft already in the air still had to be managed by controllers as they reached their destinations or were directed elsewhere.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the communications problem affected the centers responsible for flights en route and that FAA technicians were investigating. Those centers manage traffic between airports. Airport towers handle local aircraft movements and takeoffs and landings. A plane can be ready at a gate while the facilities responsible for its route are still coordinating whether it can depart.

The FAA described the outage as temporary in a public post at 5:02 p.m. and said it had accounted for every flight. Air Space Intelligence issued its statement at 5:34 p.m. San Francisco International Airport posted at 3:30 p.m. Pacific that clearance for those flights was already in place at 3 p.m. Alaska Airlines also said in a travel advisory that the hold was affecting U.S. departures outside Alaska and Hawaii.

SMART recommends adjustments before takeoff

SMART began operating on a limited basis in the Washington area on September 21. It brings together roughly 200 data streams, including weather, flight paths, traffic flow and staffing, to show where demand might exceed available airspace. Traffic planners can use that picture to consider scheduling or route changes before aircraft reach crowded sectors. The FAA’s fact sheet describes a shared view of schedules and airport capacity for aircraft operators and controllers. The tool updates its forecasts and recommendations as conditions change through the day.

The FAA’s November 10 rollout notice describes who makes those decisions. Specialists in Washington assess the data and send recommendations to the Air Traffic Control System Command Center in Warrenton, Virginia. The command center passes them on to the relevant facilities, where local managers decide whether to use them. Controllers retain responsibility for directing aircraft.

The FAA said SMART had helped reroute 180 flights since the September start. It reported average savings of 10 minutes and nearly 80 gallons of fuel per flight. The figures cover operations before the announcement of the national expansion. The agency did not describe its method for calculating savings on each flight.

Before the national expansion, lawmakers had asked for details on how the FAA tested the tool and prepared controllers to work with it. On October 9, Senator Chris Van Hollen, Representative April McClain Delaney and colleagues called for a pause in its use around Washington while the agency answered questions about safety testing, training and review of recommendations. They sought details on how the FAA would oversee the tool alongside existing systems. Their letter preceded Friday’s outage.

The FAA command center’s 5:46 p.m. advisory set 11 p.m. Eastern as the time to expect another update. It gave no time for a full resumption of departures.