Extracting Flights from Calendar

Guide for identifying actual flight events in Google Calendar and extracting structured data.

Event Patterns

Flight events in Google Calendar typically appear in these formats:

Title patterns:

• "Flight to Paris" or "Flight: SFO to CDG"
• "SFO → CDG" or "SFO -> CDG" or "SFO - CDG"
• "UA 837 to Paris" (airline + flight number)
• "London trip - outbound" (trip-based naming)

All-day vs timed:

• All-day events typically mark the travel day
• Timed events may have actual departure time
• Check description for specific times if event is all-day

Location field:

• May contain airport name: "San Francisco International Airport"
• May contain airport code: "SFO"
• May contain city: "San Francisco"

Description field:

• Often contains confirmation number
• May have full itinerary pasted from booking email
• Check for flight numbers, times, gates

Identifying Actual Flights

Use inference judgment to distinguish flights from other events:

Is a flight:

• Contains airport codes (3 uppercase letters)
• Has arrow pattern suggesting route (→, ->, -)
• Mentions specific airlines or flight numbers
• Location is an airport
• Description mentions boarding, gate, terminal

Is NOT a flight:

• Meeting at an airport (work meeting)
• "Pick up from airport" (ground transport)
• "Flight delayed" reminder (meta-event)
• Train or bus travel (even if has route pattern)
• Video call about travel plans

Extracting Details

For each confirmed flight event, extract:

Field	Source	Example
Departure City	Title, location, or description	"SFO", "San Francisco"
Arrival City	Title (after arrow) or description	"CDG", "Paris"
Departure Date	Event start date	2024-01-15
Departure Time	Event start time (if timed)	10:30
Arrival Date	Event end date or same as departure	2024-01-16
Arrival Time	Event end time or from description	07:00
Airline	Title or description	"United", "UA"
Flight Number	Title or description	"UA 837"

Output Format

Use the same JSON format as email extraction for easy merging:

{
  "source": "calendar",
  "confirmationCode": null,
  "airline": "United",
  "flightNumber": "UA 837",
  "departureCity": "San Francisco",
  "departureAirport": "SFO",
  "departureCountry": "USA",
  "departureDate": "2024-01-15",
  "departureTime": "10:30",
  "arrivalCity": "Paris",
  "arrivalAirport": "CDG",
  "arrivalCountry": "France",
  "arrivalDate": "2024-01-16",
  "arrivalTime": "07:00"
}

Merging with Email Data

When combining calendar flights with email flights:

1. Match on: same date + same route + same flight number (if available)
2. Prefer email data for confirmation codes (calendars rarely have them)
3. Prefer calendar data for times if email only has dates
4. Keep both sources noted for provenance