Delete a record when a related record is removed

[Paul_Ostering]

I have three tables:

1. A table that store crew information.
2. A table that stores upcoming trips. Each trip has one or many crew members attached.
3. A tablet that is populated via an automation where a record is created for each crew member that is attached any given trip.

The workflow is as follows:

1. When a crew member(s) are linked to a trip the lookup fields are split into 4 columns using a custom script and automation.
2. Using an automation a record is created for the trip in table 3.

The issue:

When a crew member is removed from a trip I would like to remove the previously created record in Table 3.

Any advice on the best way to accomplish this? I would be great if Airtable had a delete automation, but Im happy to use either a custom script or Make.

[ScottWorld]

Welcome to the community, @Paul_Ostering!

Yes, that would be a very nice feature to have, just like FileMaker has in their product.

Airtable has traditionally steered clear of adding any features into their product that will automatically delete anything, but I think it’s a fantastic idea and I think you should send this as a feature request to support@airtable.com.

In the meantime, you have come up with the 2 solutions that are possible at this point in time: (1) writing a custom JavaScript script to handle this for you, or (2) turning to an external automation platform like Make.com.

It’s possible that there might be other solutions for deleting linked records, but those are the only 2 options that I can think of at the moment.

[kuovonne]

Welcome to the Airtable community!

Since you already have access to someone who wrote a custom script for you, I suggest you go back to that same person for a script to delete the record.

Since this involves only Airtable data and no external sources and your workflow already involves a custom script, it is more straightforward to keep everything in Airtable.