Originally Posted by
Airlert
Hello StuckInYYZ.
All fair concerns.
The adoption issue is definitely the hardest part. My thinking wasn’t that the community data would replace the normal tracking tools or airline systems, but rather complement them. The official systems are great at telling you where the aircraft is and when it eventually departs, but they often don’t capture what’s happening on the ground until later.
For example, things like boarding pauses, crew timing out, gate changes, or maintenance holds are often known by passengers at the gate well before they show up in the systems.
So the idea was more about providing situational context from people actually on the flight. The app's foundation uses official, authorized commercial flight data (via FlightAware's AeroAPI) for its core tracking and push notifications. So even if you are the only person on the flight using the app, it still functions as a lightning-fast, real-time tracker.
Your point about verification and trolling is a very good one. In practice, passenger updates are architecturally separate and clearly labeled as exactly that: "recent updates." They physically cannot overwrite the official departure times from the aviation data feeds. To handle bad info, there are basic moderation tools built in: if someone posts garbage, users can flag the post or just block that person so they never see their updates again.
Regarding privacy, I'm wholly in agreement. There's no need to collect sensitive PII for this to work. You don't need to supply a real name or link frequent flyer accounts; device-level push notifications are just tied to the flight you're tracking without needing a formal account
So then some follow ups....
1) So then which is the source of truth? The airline's feed? Expertflyer or Flightaware (if included), the airport? The people monitoring the flight? Also keep in mind, not all sources provide details (eg, an airport might only care if the flight is ARRIVED/DEPARTED/CANCELLED/DELAYED and an API might only provide that information) whereas an airline might provide the details but not in a timely manner. Not sure what source EF uses, but they would be an additional delay if they are primary).
2) The details aren't always provided (as an addendum)... for example, check-in staff might be having a problem with their management software... Take Southwest's recent hold for example. that's not always provided in any feed
3) Some airlines delay the flight, but then bring it back in, but don't update the status until after the flight (eg, a delay in the flight due to a missing MEL component.... but they manage to find a replacement sooner than anticipated but are in a rush to get going)
4) If you mark passenger updates as that, then how are other passengers supposed to trust them? If an account is not created (and thus validated) I don't know passenger 4832 from passenger 9847... No accountability/reputation for accurate reporting.
5) Monetization? The cost of running the infrastructure for this would not be cheap.. there were apps out there in the past (several sadly are no longer available) such as Tripcase (supported by Sabre). Ignoring the privacy issue when Sabre auto added you, it would have to be a resource pig even using push notifications. That infrastructure would need to be paid for.