Platform Methodology & Derivation Rules
All figures on Airline Fleet Intelligence are derived programmatically through deterministic rules from raw Mode S / ADS-B radio telemetry and public civil aircraft registers. Last updated on 2026-09-17 (Thursday, September 17, 2026).
Core Philosophy: "As Observed"
Physical ADS-B radio receivers cannot achieve 100% global line-of-sight coverage due to oceanic voids and mountainous topography. Therefore, this platform never declares that an aircraft is permanently grounded, retired, or scrapped as an absolute certainty.
Instead, all airframe states reflect observed physical activity within specified calendar windows.
State Transition Rules & Configurable Thresholds
| Event / State | Trigger Condition | Threshold | Confidence Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flight Cycle | Transition from ground state (speed < 45 kts, alt ≤ 300 ft) to airborne and returning to ground. | 1 completed cycle | High |
| Idle | Airframe has no recorded flight observations for 7 consecutive days. | 7 days | High / Medium (based on regional coverage) |
| Stored | Airframe unobserved for 30 consecutive days, OR last landing was at a designated boneyard facility. | 30 days or Boneyard arrival | High / Medium |
| Return to Service | First observed flight cycle for an airframe previously flagged as idle or stored for 30+ days. | ≥ 30 days prior inactivity | High |
| Delivery Flight | First-ever observation of a newly registered Mode S hex code departing a recognized OEM assembly facility. | First flight from OEM field | High |
| Operator Change | Consistent 3-letter ICAO callsign prefix maps to a new airline for 14 consecutive observation days, or registry ownership changes. | 14 consecutive days | Medium to High |
| New Route | Airport pair observed in the current ISO week with 0 observed flights across the preceding 8 weeks. | 8-week comparison window | High |
| Dropped Route | Airport pair observed in all 8 preceding weeks with 0 flights observed in the current week. | 8-week continuous prior activity | High |
Designated Facility Seeds
Boneyards & Long-Term Storage Airparks
Arrival at these airfields triggers immediate storage classification:
- KMZJ: Pinal Airpark (Marana, Arizona, USA)
- KVCV: Southern California Logistics Airport (Victorville, California, USA)
- KROW: Roswell Air Center (Roswell, New Mexico, USA)
- KIGM: Kingman Airport (Kingman, Arizona, USA)
- LETL: Teruel Airport (Teruel, Spain)
- YBAS: Alice Springs Airport (Alice Springs, Australia)
- EGBP: Cotswold Airport (Kemble, UK)
- LFBT: Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees Airport (Tarbes, France)
- KGYR: Phoenix Goodyear Airport (Goodyear, Arizona, USA)
OEM Aircraft Assembly & Delivery Fields
First flight departures from these airfields trigger new delivery classification:
- KPAE: Paine Field (Everett, Washington, USA: Boeing Widebody)
- KRNT: Renton Municipal Airport (Renton, Washington, USA: Boeing 737)
- KCHS: Charleston International Airport (Charleston, South Carolina, USA: Boeing 787)
- LFBO: Toulouse-Blagnac Airport (Toulouse, France: Airbus)
- EDHI: Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (Hamburg, Germany: Airbus A320 Family)
- ZBTJ: Tianjin Binhai International Airport (Tianjin, China: Airbus)
- KBFM: Mobile International Airport (Mobile, Alabama, USA: Airbus)
- SBSJ: Sao Jose dos Campos Airport (Brazil: Embraer)
- CYMX: Montreal-Mirabel International Airport (Mirabel, Canada: Airbus A220)
Regional Coverage Confidence Scoring
To prevent false idle or stored classifications in regions with sparse receiver density (e.g. portions of Central Asia, Africa, or oceanic islands), the platform calculates a national coverage score:
Coverage Score = (Observed Operating Airframes) / (Active Civil Registry Airframes)
When an airline's home nation has a coverage score below 0.65 (65%), idle and stored event confidence is downgraded to LOW, and a visible notification banner is displayed on the airline profile.