Choosing the tables that belong in the database

After learning the questions users will ask the database, you think about how your database should be structured to best answer their questions. The first step is to choose the tables in the database.

In a relational database, all data is represented in the rows and columns of tables. Each table describes a collection of related entities such as persons, objects, or events. Each row describes one occurrence of the entity and each column describes one property of the entity--for example, a person’s last name, an object’s color, or an event’s date.

You choose the following five tables for the Arrow Aircraft database:

• An aircraft table describing all of the business jets managed by Arrow Aircraft
• An aircraft bookings table listing all the dates the jets are booked or otherwise unavailable to fly
• A shareholders table describing all the corporations and individuals who own shares in the jets
• An itineraries table describing all the itineraries requested by the shareholders
• A flights table describing all the legs ("flights") of the itineraries.