Finding the right flight

FlightAware AeroAPI
1

Hi

We use both AirlineFlightSchedules and AirportInfo to get the flight details by asking the user for his flight number and departure date
In a case when we get more than 1 result, how can we know which one should we show to the user?
For example, flight number DAL 503 on 22.1 provided 6 results (5 for the same flight base on other details and 1 for different flight):
[
{
“ident”: “WJA6475”,
“actual_ident”: “DAL503”,
“departuretime”: 1579652100,
“arrivaltime”: 1579660080,
“origin”: “KATL”,
“destination”: “KEWR”,
“aircrafttype”: “B739”,
“meal_service”: “Business: No meal / Economy: No meal”,
“seats_cabin_first”: 0,
“seats_cabin_business”: 20,
“seats_cabin_coach”: 160
},
{
“ident”: “KLM5952”,
“actual_ident”: “DAL503”,
“departuretime”: 1579652100,
“arrivaltime”: 1579660080,
“origin”: “KATL”,
“destination”: “KEWR”,
“aircrafttype”: “B739”,
“meal_service”: “Business: Dinner / Economy: No meal”,
“seats_cabin_first”: 0,
“seats_cabin_business”: 20,
“seats_cabin_coach”: 160
},
{
“ident”: “VIR2123”,
“actual_ident”: “DAL503”,
“departuretime”: 1579652100,
“arrivaltime”: 1579660080,
“origin”: “KATL”,
“destination”: “KEWR”,
“aircrafttype”: “B739”,
“meal_service”: “Business: Dinner / Economy: Snack or brunch”,
“seats_cabin_first”: 0,
“seats_cabin_business”: 20,
“seats_cabin_coach”: 160
},
{
“ident”: “DAL503”,
“actual_ident”: “”,
“departuretime”: 1579652100,
“arrivaltime”: 1579660080,
“origin”: “KATL”,
“destination”: “KEWR”,
“aircrafttype”: “B739”,
“meal_service”: “Business: Dinner / Economy: No meal”,
“seats_cabin_first”: 0,
“seats_cabin_business”: 20,
“seats_cabin_coach”: 160
},
{
“ident”: “AMX3102”,
“actual_ident”: “DAL503”,
“departuretime”: 1579652100,
“arrivaltime”: 1579660080,
“origin”: “KATL”,
“destination”: “KEWR”,
“aircrafttype”: “B739”,
“meal_service”: “Business: No meal / Economy: No meal”,
“seats_cabin_first”: 0,
“seats_cabin_business”: 20,
“seats_cabin_coach”: 160
},
{
“ident”: “AFR2140”,
“actual_ident”: “DAL503”,
“departuretime”: 1579656300,
“arrivaltime”: 1579676340,
“origin”: “KATL”,
“destination”: “KPDX”,
“aircrafttype”: “B752”,
“meal_service”: “Business: Dinner / Economy: Refreshments for sale”,
“seats_cabin_first”: 0,
“seats_cabin_business”: 20,
“seats_cabin_coach”: 179
}
]

2

Assuming that a user is inputting the flight on their ticket; it’s likely best practice to return the entry that matches the “ident” they originally selected.

If the “actual_ident” is not blank then it points towards the ident the physical flight will be tracked under. This can be used in the background to update the status for the user while still displaying the ident they originally requested. For all the DAL503 flights with the same times, origin and destination, they are all the same physical flight event under different ticketing arrangements.