The proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) technique is applied in the frequency domain to obtain a reduced-order model of the unsteady flow in a transonic turbomachinery cascade of oscillating blades. The flow is described by a inviscid - viscous model, i.e. a full potential equation outer flow model and an integral equation boundary layer model. The nonlinear transonic steady flow is computed first and then the unsteady flow is determined by a small perturbation linearization about the nonlinear steady solution. Solutions are determined for a full range of frequencies and validated. The full model results and the POD method are used to construct a reduced-order model in the frequency domain. A cascade of airfoils forming the Tenth Standard Configuration is investigated to show that the reduced-order model with only 15-75 degrees of freedom accurately predicts the unsteady response of the full system with approximately 15 000 degrees of freedom. © 2000 Academic Press.