Flight Schedule Data System (FSDS)

Overview

The Flight Schedule Data System (FSDS) contains flight schedule data by air carrier and airport. The Flight Scheduled Data System (FSDS) contains flight schedule data by air carrier and airport. Flight schedule data are used by the FAA for forecasting traffic demand and investment analysis. FSDS data can be viewed on the FAA Operations & Performance Data Web site: aspm.faa.gov.

The FSDS system has two views: Operations by Airport and Operations by City Pair.

FSDS data can be viewed on the FAA Operations & Performance Data Web site.

Data Sources and Update Cycle

From January 2000 through November 2008 the data source for the FSDS was the Official Airline Guide (OAG). Beginning December 2008 the data source was changed to Innovata.

Data contained in the FSDS is updated on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of every month from data files provided twice a month by Innovata, a private aviation data provider. Each file includes information for the current month plus the next five months of schedule data. Quality assurance begins the moment the file is received from Innovata by assuring that the file size is consistent with previous files, and continues through the entire processing and post-processing phases. Once the mid-month file is received, the data for the first two weeks of the month is typically finalized.

Data Availability

Access to the FSDS system is limited to employees of the FAA's Aviation Policy, Planning and Environment office (AEP) or contractors performing analysis directly for this office. Data are available from January 2000 through this month, plus the next 5 months.

System Documentation

Quality Assurance Procedures for Innovata Flight Schedule Data

User Manual

View the FSDS Manual for a detailed explanation of how to create reports based on FSDS.

Definitions of Variables

For more information about these topics, please see the Definitions of Variables for the FSDS system.