Walkthrough of importing, transforming and combining data from FlightStats.com using Excel 2013 with Power Query. The concepts explored here are on working with Real Time data in Excel as well as using Parameterized Queries to combine Weather Data with Airport Data.

1. Visualizing Real Time
Flight Data
ShiSh

2. Data Source
http://www.flightstats.com

3. API Access to Real Time Flight Data
http://developer.flightstats.com
Register for a
developer
account

4. Tools Used
• Microsoft Excel 2013 http://bit.ly/Kl0tcp
• Microsoft Power Query Preview for Excel http://bit.ly/1kiymZi
• Power Map Preview for Excel 2013 http://bit.ly/ZLP5gO

5. Use FlightStats Flex APIs
I will be using the
Delay Index to
identify airports
with delays in real
time
The Weather API
will be used to
retrieve weather
conditions for
airports having
delays

6. APIs Used
• The DelayIndexService API returns a measure of the level of departure
delays a specified airport is currently experiencing
• A low index (0-1) indicates that departures are running
relatively smoothly. A higher index (4-5) is indicative of
significant delays and flight operations disruptions.
• The index is updated every 30 minutes.
• The Weather API includes METAR, TAF (Terminal Aerodrome/Area
Forecast), and Zone Forecasts.
• METAR reports provide up-to-date information on current
weather conditions at an airport

7. Interactive Documentation
Use the API Interactive
Documentation to build out the
Query Strings for Power Query
I used the Delay
Indexes by Region
format

8. Building the Query String
Use the Interactive Documentation to Build
the Query String
Your AppID &
AppKey
Just the Data
for the large
airports
Filtering for
airports with a
Delay Index >=3
Use this Query
String in Power
Query

9. Using Power Query
Use the Query String generated using the Interactive Documentation:
https://api.flightstats.com:443/flex/delayindex/rest/v1/json/region/North-America?appId=YourAppID&appKey=YourAppKey&classification=1&score=3

10. Data Acquisition
Click on
List
Right-Click &
Convert to Table
Click & Select the
fields you want to
import

11. Data Transformation
Change Data Type
to Date /Time
/Timezone
Expand Airport
Data
Transformed Data In Excel:
Rename Fields

12. Automatic Updates
2. Under Refresh,
Select Connection
Properties
1. Click Design
I set the refresh freq
to 30mins to match
Delay Index updates

13. Data Visualization
Data Visualization using Power View
for Excel
This data was captured Jan 1, 2014 at
2:30PM PST
I have set the data to automatically
update every 30 minutes

14. Access Weather Data for Airports
• Use Interactive Documentation for
generating Query String for Weather Data
• The goal is to get airport weather conditions
for airports facing delays
• For generating the query use a sample
aiport code: I used SEA.
Copy this Query
String and use it in
Power Query
https://api.flightstats.com:443/flex/weather/rest/v1/json/metar/SEA?appId=YourAppID&appKey=YourAppKey

15. Acquire Weather Data for one Airport
1. Click
metar
Record
3. Expand
Weather
condiitions
2. Change
Name of
Query
5. Click on
Record to see
data
4. Click
Weather
Conditions to
expand

16. Create Re-usable Function for Weather API … 1
Data
returned for
SEA
This is weather data for Seattle. We need to change this
to a parameterized query so that we get weather
conditions for any airport facing delays
Click here to
edit the
query
The Query name
will become the
name of the
custom function
Edit this to make
this a
parameterized
query

17. Create Re-usable Function for Weather API … 2
Add the AirportCode variable as shown below in the Query and replace SEA with the variable in the Query string as shown.
(AirportCode)=>
Add This
let
Source = Json.Document(Web.Contents("https://api.flightstats.com:443/flex/weather/rest/v1/json/metar/"& (AirportCode)
&"?appId=YourAppID&appKey=YourAppKey"),1252),
metar = Source[metar],
conditions = metar[conditions],
Include the variable in the
weatherConditions = conditions[weatherConditions],
query string
weatherConditions1 = weatherConditions{0}
in
weatherConditions1
The AirportWeather function
can now be invoked with an
AirportCode

18. Combining Weather Data with Airport Delays
Edit the DelayIndex Query to add a new column that shows weather conditions for the Airports:
Insert
Custom
Column
Call the custom
AirportWeather Function and
pass the FAA Code of the
Airport to it

19. Have Fun Exploring the Data using Power View &
Power Map