Advanced Automation System (1982–1996)
The FAA contracted IBM in the 1980s to build a fully automated air traffic control system called the Advanced Automation System, meant to replace 1970s-era computers nationwide.
Costs ballooned from roughly $2.5 billion to more than $7 billion before the FAA scaled back the program in 1994.
Only pieces of the system were deployed. The episode became shorthand for the FAA's difficulty managing large IT projects.
SMART is the latest large-scale FAA technology bet. Skeptics point to AAS as evidence that ambitious air traffic upgrades often arrive late and over budget.
