This data set is from the [ASA Statistical Computing / Statistical Graphics](http://stat-computing.org/dataexpo/2009/the-data.html) section 2009 contest. The documentation below is largely adapted from that site.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) tracks the on-time performance of domestic flights operated by large air carriers. Summary information on the number of on-time, delayed, canceled and diverted flights appears in DOT’s monthly Air Travel Consumer Report, published about 30 days after the month’s end, as well as in summary tables posted on this website. BTS began collecting details on the causes of flight delays in June 2003. Summary statistics and raw data are made available to the public at the time the Air Travel Consumer Report is released.
The data consists of flight arrival and departure details for all commercial flights within the USA, from October 1987 to April 2008. This is a large dataset: there are nearly 120 million records in total, and takes up 1.6 gigabytes of space compressed and 12 gigabytes when uncompressed.
The data comes originally from the DOT’s [Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA)](http://www.transtats.bts.gov/OT_Delay/OT_DelayCause1.asp) group, where it is [described in detail](http://www.transtats.bts.gov/Fields.asp?Table_ID=236). You can download the original data there. The files here have derivable variables removed, are packaged in yearly chunks and have been more heavily compressed than the originals.
Here are a few ideas to get you started exploring the data:
When is the best time of day/day of week/time of year to fly to minimise delays?
Do older planes suffer more delays?
How does the number of people flying between different locations change over time?
How well does weather predict plane delays?
Can you detect cascading failures as delays in one airport create delays in others? Are there critical links in the system?
1 Year int 1987-2008
2 Month int 1-12
3 DayofMonth int 1-31
4 DayOfWeek int 1 (Monday) - 7 (Sunday)
5 DepTime int actual departure time (local, hhmm)
6 CRSDepTime int scheduled departure time (local, hhmm)
7 ArrTime int actual arrival time (local, hhmm)
8 CRSArrTime int scheduled arrival time (local, hhmm)
9 UniqueCarrier varchar(5) unique carrier code
10 FlightNum int flight number
11 TailNum varchar(8) plane tail number
12 ActualElapsedTime int in minutes
13 CRSElapsedTime int in minutes
14 AirTime int in minutes
15 ArrDelay int arrival delay, in minutes
16 DepDelay int departure delay, in minutes
17 Origin varchar(3) origin IATA airport code
18 Dest varchar(3) destination IATA airport code
19 Distance int in miles
20 TaxiIn int taxi in time, in minutes
21 TaxiOut int taxi out time in minutes
22 Cancelled int was the flight cancelled?
23 CancellationCode varchar(1) reason for cancellation (A=carrier,B=weather,C=NAS, D = security)
24 Diverted varchar(1) 1 = yes, 0 = no
25 CarrierDelay int in minutes
26 WeatherDelay int in minutes
27 NASDelay int in minutes
28 SecurityDelay int in minutes
29 LateAircraftDelay int in minutes
-
Airports: airports.csv describes the locations of US airports. The majority of this data comes from the FAA, but a few extra airports (mainly military bases and US protectorates) were collected from other web sources by Ryan Hafen and Hadley Wickham. Its fields:
iata the international airport abbreviation code name of the airport city city in which the airport is located country country in which airport is located. lat latitude of the airport lng longitude of the airport
-
Carrier codes: Listing of carrier codes with full names: carriers.csv
-
Planes: You can find out information about individual planes by googling the tail number or by looking it up in the [FAA database](http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_inquiry.asp). [plane-data.csv](http://stat-computing.org/dataexpo/2009/plane-data.csv) is a csv file produced from the (some of) the data on that page.
-
Weather: Meteorological data is available from (among many others) NOAA and weather underground. The call sign for airport weather stations can be constructed by adding K to the airport code, e.g. KORD, KLAX, KSEA.
Felds from the original source:
-- Time Period Year Year Quarter Quarter (1-4) Month Month DayofMonth Day of Month DayOfWeek Day of Week FlightDate Flight Date (yyyymmdd)
-- Airline UniqueCarrier Unique Carrier Code. When the same code has been used by multiple carriers, a numeric suffix is used for earlier users, for example, PA, PA(1), PA(2). Use this field for analysis across a range of years. Analysis AirlineID An identification number assigned by US DOT to identify a unique airline (carrier). A unique airline (carrier) is defined as one holding and reporting under the same DOT certificate regardless of its Code, Name, or holding company/corporation. Analysis Carrier Code assigned by IATA and commonly used to identify a carrier. As the same code may have been assigned to different carriers over time, the code is not always unique. For analysis, use the Unique Carrier Code. TailNum Tail Number FlightNum Flight Number
-- Origin OriginAirportID Origin Airport, Airport ID. An identification number assigned by US DOT to identify a unique airport. Use this field for airport analysis across a range of years because an airport can change its airport code and airport codes can be reused. Analysis OriginAirportSeqID Origin Airport, Airport Sequence ID. An identification number assigned by US DOT to identify a unique airport at a given point of time. Airport attributes, such as airport name or coordinates, may change over time. OriginCityMarketID Origin Airport, City Market ID. City Market ID is an identification number assigned by US DOT to identify a city market. Use this field to consolidate airports serving the same city market. Analysis Origin Origin Airport OriginCityName Origin Airport, City Name OriginState Origin Airport, State Code OriginStateFips Origin Airport, State Fips OriginStateName Origin Airport, State Name OriginWac Origin Airport, World Area Code
-- Destination DestAirportID Destination Airport, Airport ID. An identification number assigned by US DOT to identify a unique airport. Use this field for airport analysis across a range of years because an airport can change its airport code and airport codes can be reused. Analysis DestAirportSeqID Destination Airport, Airport Sequence ID. An identification number assigned by US DOT to identify a unique airport at a given point of time. Airport attributes, such as airport name or coordinates, may change over time. DestCityMarketID Destination Airport, City Market ID. City Market ID is an identification number assigned by US DOT to identify a city market. Use this field to consolidate airports serving the same city market. Analysis Dest Destination Airport DestCityName Destination Airport, City Name DestState Destination Airport, State Code DestStateFips Destination Airport, State Fips DestStateName Destination Airport, State Name DestWac Destination Airport, World Area Code
-- Departure Performance CRSDepTime CRS Departure Time (local time: hhmm) DepTime Actual Departure Time (local time: hhmm) DepDelay Difference in minutes between scheduled and actual departure time. Early departures show negative numbers. Analysis DepDelayMinutes Difference in minutes between scheduled and actual departure time. Early departures set to 0. DepDel15 Departure Delay Indicator, 15 Minutes or More (1=Yes) DepartureDelayGroups Departure Delay intervals, every (15 minutes from \<-15 to >180) DepTimeBlk CRS Departure Time Block, Hourly Intervals TaxiOut Taxi Out Time, in Minutes WheelsOff Wheels Off Time (local time: hhmm)
-- Arrival Performance WheelsOn Wheels On Time (local time: hhmm) TaxiIn Taxi In Time, in Minutes CRSArrTime CRS Arrival Time (local time: hhmm) ArrTime Actual Arrival Time (local time: hhmm) ArrDelay Difference in minutes between scheduled and actual arrival time. Early arrivals show negative numbers. Analysis ArrDelayMinutes Difference in minutes between scheduled and actual arrival time. Early arrivals set to 0. ArrDel15 Arrival Delay Indicator, 15 Minutes or More (1=Yes) ArrivalDelayGroups Arrival Delay intervals, every (15-minutes from <-15 to >180) ArrTimeBlk CRS Arrival Time Block, Hourly Intervals
-- Cancellations and Diversions Cancelled Cancelled Flight Indicator (1=Yes) CancellationCode Specifies The Reason For Cancellation Diverted Diverted Flight Indicator (1=Yes)
-- Flight Summaries CRSElapsedTime CRS Elapsed Time of Flight, in Minutes ActualElapsedTime Elapsed Time of Flight, in Minutes AirTime Flight Time, in Minutes Flights Number of Flights Distance Distance between airports (miles) DistanceGroup Distance Intervals, every 250 Miles, for Flight Segment
-- Cause of Delay (Data starts 6/2003) CarrierDelay Carrier Delay, in Minutes WeatherDelay Weather Delay, in Minutes NASDelay National Air System Delay, in Minutes SecurityDelay Security Delay, in Minutes LateAircraftDelay Late Aircraft Delay, in Minutes
-- Gate Return Information at Origin Airport (Data starts 10/2008) FirstDepTime First Gate Departure Time at Origin Airport TotalAddGTime Total Ground Time Away from Gate for Gate Return or Cancelled Flight LongestAddGTime Longest Time Away from Gate for Gate Return or Cancelled Flight
-- Diverted Airport Information (Data starts 10/2008) DivAirportLandings Number of Diverted Airport Landings DivReachedDest Diverted Flight Reaching Scheduled Destination Indicator (1=Yes) DivActualElapsedTime Elapsed Time of Diverted Flight Reaching Scheduled Destination, in Minutes. The ActualElapsedTime column remains NULL for all diverted flights. Analysis DivArrDelay Difference in minutes between scheduled and actual arrival time for a diverted flight reaching scheduled destination. The ArrDelay column remains NULL for all diverted flights. Analysis DivDistance Distance between scheduled destination and final diverted airport (miles). Value will be 0 for diverted flight reaching scheduled destination. Analysis Div1Airport Diverted Airport Code1 Div1AirportID Airport ID of Diverted Airport 1. Airport ID is a Unique Key for an Airport Div1AirportSeqID Airport Sequence ID of Diverted Airport 1. Unique Key for Time Specific Information for an Airport Div1WheelsOn Wheels On Time (local time: hhmm) at Diverted Airport Code1 Div1TotalGTime Total Ground Time Away from Gate at Diverted Airport Code1 Div1LongestGTime Longest Ground Time Away from Gate at Diverted Airport Code1 Div1WheelsOff Wheels Off Time (local time: hhmm) at Diverted Airport Code1 Div1TailNum Aircraft Tail Number for Diverted Airport Code1 Div2Airport Diverted Airport Code2 Div2AirportID Airport ID of Diverted Airport 2. Airport ID is a Unique Key for an Airport Div2AirportSeqID Airport Sequence ID of Diverted Airport 2. Unique Key for Time Specific Information for an Airport Div2WheelsOn Wheels On Time (local time: hhmm) at Diverted Airport Code2 Div2TotalGTime Total Ground Time Away from Gate at Diverted Airport Code2 Div2LongestGTime Longest Ground Time Away from Gate at Diverted Airport Code2 Div2WheelsOff Wheels Off Time (local time: hhmm) at Diverted Airport Code2 Div2TailNum Aircraft Tail Number for Diverted Airport Code2 Div3Airport Diverted Airport Code3 Div3AirportID Airport ID of Diverted Airport 3. Airport ID is a Unique Key for an Airport Div3AirportSeqID Airport Sequence ID of Diverted Airport 3. Unique Key for Time Specific Information for an Airport Div3WheelsOn Wheels On Time (local time: hhmm) at Diverted Airport Code3 Div3TotalGTime Total Ground Time Away from Gate at Diverted Airport Code3 Div3LongestGTime Longest Ground Time Away from Gate at Diverted Airport Code3 Div3WheelsOff Wheels Off Time (local time: hhmm) at Diverted Airport Code3 Div3TailNum Aircraft Tail Number for Diverted Airport Code3 Div4Airport Diverted Airport Code4 Div4AirportID Airport ID of Diverted Airport 4. Airport ID is a Unique Key for an Airport Div4AirportSeqID Airport Sequence ID of Diverted Airport 4. Unique Key for Time Specific Information for an Airport Div4WheelsOn Wheels On Time (local time: hhmm) at Diverted Airport Code4 Div4TotalGTime Total Ground Time Away from Gate at Diverted Airport Code4 Div4LongestGTime Longest Ground Time Away from Gate at Diverted Airport Code4 Div4WheelsOff Wheels Off Time (local time: hhmm) at Diverted Airport Code4 Div4TailNum Aircraft Tail Number for Diverted Airport Code4 Div5Airport Diverted Airport Code5 Div5AirportID Airport ID of Diverted Airport 5. Airport ID is a Unique Key for an Airport Div5AirportSeqID Airport Sequence ID of Diverted Airport 5. Unique Key for Time Specific Information for an Airport Div5WheelsOn Wheels On Time (local time: hhmm) at Diverted Airport Code5 Div5TotalGTime Total Ground Time Away from Gate at Diverted Airport Code5 Div5LongestGTime Longest Ground Time Away from Gate at Diverted Airport Code5 Div5WheelsOff Wheels Off Time (local time: hhmm) at Diverted Airport Code5 Div5TailNum Aircraft Tail Number for Diverted Airport Code5