Southwest joins the IATA Schedule Data Exchange Program | News

Southwest Airlines has joined IATA’s Schedule Data Exchange Program (SDEP), bringing the number of participating airlines to 190.

The SDEP was launched in late 2023 to build a unique airline-owned database of flight schedules and minimum connection time exceptions. Schedule data forms the basis for many aspects of an airline’s operations, including network planning, slot coordination and interline agreements. Data coverage now exceeds the 70% available seat kilometers (ASKs) of airlines in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and is expected to reach 90% coverage globally by the end of 2026.

Industry Data Protection

A key benefit of the SDEP lies in its give-to-get principle, where airlines provide their schedule data while simultaneously receiving enriched global schedule data to enable internal analytics and smarter planning. This includes details on flight schedules, aircraft types, cabin configurations and cargo loading.

The SDEP is managed by airlines that contribute to compliance with competition and antitrust laws, strict data disclosure policies and adherence to best practices in data security and privacy.

Aviation initiative

“IATA’s SDEP aims to give airlines control and ownership of the industry’s collective schedule data while improving data security and reliability. Southwest’s entry into the SDEP marks an important step forward in strengthening the overall value of the SDEP database and a strong signal to other airlines that they should be part of this program,” said Frederic Leger, IATA Senior Vice President, Products & Services.

“As an industry dataset, airlines rely heavily on flight schedule data in their business planning. It makes sense that this data is managed and shared among all participants, which is why we are pleased to be actively contributing to this program,” said Daniel Jones, VP Network Planning at Southwest Airlines.