Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR) could be in line for a much larger opportunity with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after the agency on Monday began rolling out its AI-powered SMART system at the three major airports serving the Washington, D.C., area. The Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories system is designed to help the FAA manage air traffic more efficiently by using large amounts of data to identify potential congestion and other problems before they develop.
The rollout marks the first time the FAA has put the technology into live operation in the U.S., and it also highlights the agency’s broader push to modernize its systems with artificial intelligence. For Palantir, that could be significant because its relationship with the FAA has already expanded considerably since the company won its initial aircraft-safety contract in 2021.
Rosenblatt analyst John McPeake sees Monday’s development as evidence of the wider opportunity for Palantir within the FAA. The analyst argues that the agency’s modernization effort involves several different vendors and should not be viewed simply as a contest between Palantir and Aviation Systems International (ASI). ASI won the flight-operations portion of the program, with a contract worth $875 million over 12 years, while Palantir was selected for the safety and analytics side.
