Charleston Flights Dashboard

Charleston Flights Dashboard is a work-in-progress project built with Observable Framework, combining JavaScript visuals, data mapping, and a Python ETL pipeline to provide a dynamic view of Charleston International Airport (CHS) flights. This dashboard delivers historical trends, live flight data, and interactive visualizations to help track airport operations more clearly.

View the dashboard Check out the code

About

I’m passionate about aviation and data, and this project represents my effort to bring greater clarity to CHS flight operations through data-driven insights. In January 2025, a snowstorm temporarily shut down the airfield1, and the official CHS website’s updates on airport operations highlighted an opportunity for additional clarity2. This dashboard is designed to offer a transparent, data-focused view of CHS flights, enabling users to explore operational trends and stay informed.

Approach

  • Data: The dashboard ingests daily CHS flight data through a Python-based ETL pipeline, storing structured snapshots for historical trend analysis.
  • Tools: Built with Observable Framework, leveraging Observable Plot, D3, and Leaflet for interactive visualizations and Python for ETL.
  • Process: Live data is pulled directly from an API powering the official CHS website, while historical trend snapshots help identify operational patterns.

Challenges

Working with flight data comes with its own complexities, real-world data can be messy, and structuring it for an interactive dashboard requires careful planning. I had a solid understanding of how to transform the data using SQL or Python, but implementing those transformations in JavaScript in a way that remains flexible and scalable was a new challenge. Through multiple iterations, I refined the data model to better capture flight status, delays, and trends.

Some key challenges included:

  • Adapting my familiar data transformation techniques to JavaScript’s unique paradigms for handling interactive, event-driven data.
  • Defining and categorizing cancellations, diversions, and delays in a way that accurately represents real-world operations.
  • The tedious and manual process of mapping SVG coordinates to make it appear as though planes are actually parked at the gates, this was a surprisingly time-consuming but rewarding task!

Learning & Future Development

This project is expanding my JavaScript skills, particularly in building data-driven applications. I’m focusing on:

  • Observable Framework for developing interactive, data-powered static sites.
  • D3 and Observable Plot for creating dynamic, custom visualizations.
  • Leaflet for mapping and visualizing airport gate activity.
  • Optimizing data workflows in JavaScript and Python to efficiently handle both real-time and historical data.

Footnotes

  1. Read CHS’s official updates on the snowstorm.↩︎

  2. See CHS’s Facebook Post and reactions from individuals during the snowstorm event.↩︎