Air-freight shipment tracker with live flight alerts
Automatically checks each inbound shipment's flight, updates its arrival status in your tracker, and alerts the warehouse the moment plans change.
AviationStack
Google Sheets
SlackOperationsData SyncNotifications & AlertsResearch & MonitoringEvery three hours during our business hours, keep our inbound air-freight tracker up to date and let the warehouse know when a shipment's arrival changes.
Start by reading the tracker from our Google Sheet with the Get Values operation. Each row holds a shipment or purchase order reference, the flight number carrying it, the expected arrival date, and a status column. Focus only on rows for shipments that are still in transit, and skip any that are already marked landed, delivered, or cancelled.
For each in-transit shipment, look up the live status of its carrying flight with AviationStack's Get Flights (real-time) operation, matching on the flight's IATA or ICAO flight number. AviationStack sends its access key as the access_key query parameter, and its real-time flight lookup is available on every plan. The free plan is HTTP-only with a small monthly request quota, so keep the number of tracked shipments and the check frequency modest.
When a flight has landed, been delayed, or diverted, write the updated status and the actual or estimated arrival time back to that shipment's row with the Update Values operation. Target the specific row and columns for that shipment so nothing else in the sheet is disturbed.
Then, only when a flight has meaningfully changed (a fresh landing, a delay, or a diversion, not just a minor time shift), post a short note to our logistics Slack channel with the Send a Message operation so the warehouse knows when to expect the shipment. Keep each note brief and include the shipment or purchase order reference, the flight number, the new status, and the revised arrival time.
If a flight cannot be found, or a row has no valid flight number, skip that shipment and move on rather than writing an update or posting a note.
Additional information
What does this prompt do?
- Reads your inbound air-freight tracker every few hours during business hours, where each row is a shipment or PO with its flight number and expected arrival date.
- Checks the live status of each in-transit shipment's flight and spots landings, delays, and diversions.
- Updates the shipment's row with the new status and the actual or estimated arrival time.
- Posts a short note to your logistics Slack channel so the warehouse knows when to expect it, only when something meaningfully changes.
What do I need to use this?
- A Google Sheet listing your inbound shipments, with a shipment or PO reference, flight number, and expected arrival date in each row.
- An AviationStack account for live flight status (the free plan works for a small number of shipments checked a few times a day).
- A Slack workspace and the logistics channel where warehouse updates should be posted.
How can I customize it?
- Change how often it runs or the business hours it covers.
- Adjust which changes are worth a Slack alert, for example only delays over an hour or any diversion.
- Point it at a different Slack channel, or add more columns to write back such as a carrier note or a tracking link.
Frequently asked questions
How often does it check my shipments?
Do I need a paid AviationStack plan?
Will it message the warehouse about every shipment?
How does it know which flight to look up?
Does it update my spreadsheet automatically?
Related templates
Stop refreshing flight trackers by hand.
Let this workflow watch every inbound shipment's flight, keep your tracker current, and tell the warehouse when plans change.