Live Airport Delay Dashboard with FlightStats & Team Alerts

Description

• Automates live monitoring of airport delays using FlightStats API.
• Stores and displays delay data, with Slack alerts for severe delays to operations/sales teams.

Essential Information

• Runs on a scheduled trigger (e.g., hourly or daily).
• Fetches real-time delay data from FlightStats API.
• Stores data in Google Sheets and alerts teams via Slack for severe delays.

System Architecture

• Delay Monitoring Pipeline:
  • Set Schedule: Triggers the workflow hourly or daily via Cron.
  • FlightStats API: Retrieves live airport delay data.
• Data Management Flow:
  • Set Output Data: Prepares data for storage or display.
  • Merge API Data: Combines and processes delay data.
• Alert and Display:
  • Send Response via Slack: Alerts ops/sales for severe delays.
  • No Action for Minor Delays: Skips minor delays with no action.

Implementation Guide

• Import the workflow JSON into n8n.
• Configure Cron node for desired schedule (e.g., every 1 hr).
• Set up FlightStats API credentials and endpoint (e.g., https://api.flightstats.com).
• Configure Google Sheets or Notion for data storage/display.
• Test with a sample API call and verify Slack alerts.
• Adjust delay severity thresholds as needed.

Technical Dependencies

• Cron service for scheduling.
• FlightStats API for real-time delay data.
• Google Sheets API or Notion API for data storage/display.
• Slack API for team notifications.
• n8n for workflow automation.

Database & Sheet Structure

• Delay Tracking Sheet (e.g., AirportDelays):
  • Columns: airport_code, delay_status, delay_minutes, timestamp, alert_sent
  • Example: JFK, Severe, 120, 2025-07-29T20:28:00Z, Yes

Customization Possibilities

• Adjust Cron schedule for different frequencies (e.g., every 30 min).
• Modify FlightStats API parameters to track specific airports.
• Customize Slack alert messages in the Send Response via Slack node.
• Integrate with a dashboard tool (e.g., Google Data Studio) for live display.
• Add email alerts for additional notification channels.