At a cost of $875 million, the Federal Aviation Administration is introducing artificial intelligence into the heart of American air traffic control, seeking to dissolve the chronic congestion that costs the aviation industry billions and frustrates millions of travelers each year. The initiative represents the most ambitious modernization of airspace management in a generation — yet it arrives carrying the weight of unresolved questions about readiness, trust, and the particular dangers of moving quickly in a domain where errors cascade. What unfolds in the skies above Washington, D.C. in the