✈️ Flight Tracker PowerShell Script

A modern, animated PowerShell script that uses the AvionStack API to track and display flight information by IATA code with beautiful UI enhancements.

🌟 Features

• 🔍 Flight Search: Search flights by IATA code (e.g., AZ123)
• 🎬 Animated UI: Beautiful airplane animation while loading flight data
• 📊 Comprehensive Information: Display detailed flight information including:
  • 📅 Flight Date (formatted as "Friday, June 01, 2025")
  • 🟢🟡🔵🔴🟠 Flight Status (with color-coded emoji indicators)
  • 🛫 Departure Airport
  • 🛬 Arrival Airport
  • 🏢 Airline Company
  • ⏰ Departure Scheduled Time (formatted as "Jun 01, 2025 - 14:30 UTC")
  • ✅ Departure Actual Time
  • ⏰ Arrival Scheduled Time
  • 📍 Arrival Estimated Time
• 🎨 Enhanced UI: Modern interface with emojis, animations, and improved formatting
• ⚡ Real-time Feedback: Visual loading indicators and status updates

🚀 Prerequisites

1. AvionStack API Key: You need to sign up at AvionStack to get a free API key
2. PowerShell: The script works with both Windows PowerShell and PowerShell Core
3. Unicode Support: Ensure your terminal supports Unicode characters for proper emoji display

📋 Setup

Option 1: Set Environment Variable (Recommended)

Set your API key as an environment variable:

$env:AVIATIONSTACK_API_KEY = "your_api_key_here"

To make it permanent, add it to your PowerShell profile or system environment variables.

Option 2: Pass API Key as Parameter

You can provide the API key when running the script.

🎮 Usage

Interactive Mode

Run the script and it will prompt for the API key (if not set) and flight code:

.\FlightsTracker.ps1

With Parameters

Provide the API key and/or flight code as parameters:

# With API key and flight code
.\FlightsTracker.ps1 -ApiKey "your_api_key" -FlightCode "AZ123"

# With flight code only (uses environment variable for API key)
.\FlightsTracker.ps1 -FlightCode "AZ123"

# With API key only (prompts for flight code)
.\FlightsTracker.ps1 -ApiKey "your_api_key"

🎬 Animation Features

The script includes several visual enhancements:

• ✈️ Airplane Animation: Moving airplane with clouds during data loading
• 🎨 Emoji Icons: Each piece of information has a relevant emoji for quick identification
• 🌈 Color-Coded Status: Flight status displayed with appropriate colors and emoji indicators
• 📏 Formatted Borders: Beautiful airplane-themed borders and headers

📱 Example Output

✈️ ═══════════════════════════════════════ ✈️
        🌟 FLIGHT TRACKER SCRIPT 🌟          
✈️ ═══════════════════════════════════════ ✈️

✈️ Enter flight IATA code (e.g., AZ123): AZ123

    ☁️                    ☁️
             ✈️
         Loading flight data...

✅ Found 1 flight(s)

✈️ ════════════════════════════════════ ✈️
           FLIGHT INFORMATION           
✈️ ════════════════════════════════════ ✈️
📅 Flight Date:              Friday, June 01, 2025
🟢 Flight Status:            active
🛫 Departure Airport:        John F. Kennedy International Airport
🛬 Arrival Airport:          Leonardo da Vinci International Airport
🏢 Airline Company:          Alitalia
⏰ Departure Scheduled:      Jun 01, 2025 - 14:30 UTC
✅ Departure Actual:         Jun 01, 2025 - 14:35 UTC
⏰ Arrival Scheduled:        Jun 02, 2025 - 06:45 UTC
📍 Arrival Estimated:        Jun 02, 2025 - 06:50 UTC
✈️ ════════════════════════════════════ ✈️

🎯 Press any key to exit...

🎨 Flight Status Indicators

The script displays flight status with both colors and emoji indicators:

• 🟢 Green: Active flights
• 🟡 Yellow: Scheduled flights
• 🔵 Blue: Landed flights
• 🔴 Red: Cancelled flights
• 🟠 Orange: Delayed flights
• ⚪ White: Other statuses

⚠️ Error Handling

The script includes comprehensive error handling with enhanced visual feedback:

• 🔐 Invalid API keys (401 Unauthorized): Authentication failed message
• 🚫 Access restrictions (403 Forbidden): Plan limitation warnings
• ⏱️ Rate limiting (429 Too Many Requests): Rate limit exceeded notifications
• ❌ Network connectivity issues: Connection error handling
• ⚠️ Invalid flight codes: Flight not found messages

All error messages include relevant emojis for better visual identification.

🎯 Enhanced Features

Date and Time Formatting

• Flight Date: Displays as "Friday, June 01, 2025" instead of raw API format
• All Times: Formatted as "Jun 01, 2025 - 14:30 UTC" for better readability
• Timezone Clarity: All times clearly marked as UTC

Visual Improvements

• 🎬 Loading Animation: Animated airplane moves across the screen while fetching data
• 📱 Modern UI: Clean, emoji-rich interface with consistent spacing
• 🌈 Color Coding: Intuitive color scheme throughout the application
• 📏 Professional Layout: Well-structured information display

📊 API Limitations

• Free tier has limited requests per month
• Some features may require a paid plan
• Real-time data availability depends on the airline and airport

🔧 Troubleshooting

1. 🔐 "Authentication failed": Check your API key is correct
2. ❌ "No flights found": Verify the IATA code is correct and the flight exists
3. ⏱️ "Rate limit exceeded": Wait before making another request (free tier limitations)
4. 🌐 Network errors: Check your internet connection
5. 👁️ Emoji display issues: Ensure your terminal supports Unicode characters
6. 🎨 Color display problems: Use a modern terminal that supports ANSI colors

🚀 Requirements

• PowerShell 5.1+ or PowerShell Core 6.0+
• Internet connection for API access
• Terminal with Unicode support for proper emoji display
• AvionStack API key (free tier available)

📄 License

This script is provided as-is for educational and personal use.