I was experiencing an issue today while tracking a particular flight: EZY4292
From what I could see, the flight was delayed by about 48 minutes:
Checking the FlightInfo did not expose the actual departure time, even 90 minutes after the flight had actually taken off:
A few minutes later, the actual departure time had a value of -1:
While a simple google search of the flight number indicated that it had actually landed:
My concerns are that the actual departure times are not reflecting in the API soon enough and that the values of “-1” in this case seem completely wrong.
It looks like the system does not have a problem tracking that flight usually, but on the 31st FlightAware did not get enough data for that flight so we could not update the departure times or track the flight. You were seeing only the flight plan information.
Is there an average waiting period before the actual departure time reflects in the API response, or is this dependant on third-party information ? My system is configured to send notifications when a flight delayed by a certain amount of time and I just need to make sure that the actual departure time is present in the API to confirm that the flight is really delayed.
The API response should have the latest information, based on data aggregated from multiple data sources.
I think FlightInfo is a good call to find differences between filed and departed times for past flights. It should work, that EZY4292 was a special case as we never received departure information for it.
However, if you know what flights you want to follow, FlightAware also has an alert system, and API calls for you to subscribe (https://flightxml.flightaware.com/soap/FlightXML2/doc#op_SetAlert).
You may find it useful as you can also sign to be notified of gate time departures, while FlightInfo will only tell you the runway departure.
Example of notification:
{“long_desc”:"American Airlines #1571 (B738) departed Chicago O’Hare Intl (KORD) at 10:54 CST enroute to Los Angeles Intl (KLAX) for an estimated arrival at 12:52 PST
Destination (Los Angeles Intl / LAX): Terminal 4, Gate 42B",“short_desc”:“AAL1571 (B738) departed KORD @ 10:54 CST for KLAX ETA 12:52 PST”,“summary”:“AAL1571 has departed KORD for KLAX”,“eventcode”:“departure”,“alert_id”:13805414,“flight”:{“ident”:“AAL1571”,“aircrafttype”:“B738”,“origin”:“KORD”,“destination”:“KLAX”,“filed_ete”:“04:15:00”,“route”:“MYKIE MONNY IANNA FOD Q122 ONL KD72Y LAR KD57Q HEC RIIVR2”,“faFlightID”:“AAL1571-1450022100-schedule-0000”,“reg”:“N957NN”,“filed_altitude”:380,“filed_airspeed_kts”:449,“filed_time”:1450022100,“filed_departuretime”:1450194900,“estimatedarrivaltime”:1450212720,“actualarrivaltime”:0,“actualdeparturetime”:1450198440,“estimated_blockin_time”:1450213320,“filed_blockin_time”:1450211220,“actual_blockin_time”:0,“estimated_blockout_time”:1450197960,“filed_blockout_time”:1450194900,“actual_blockout_time”:1450197960,“filed_arrivaltime”:1450210200}}
