What’s a Flight Tracker?

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A flight tracker is a free and easy-to-use tool that allows you to monitor the location and status of an airline flight in real time. It’s helpful for picking up or dropping off someone at the airport, checking on a loved one’s flight, and ensuring your own flight is on time. Simply enter the airline name, flight number, and date to access information such as the flight’s geographic location, altitude, speed, estimated time of arrival, and gate number. Flight trackers are available online and can be found by searching “flight tracker.”

A flight tracker allows you to monitor the basic stats and location of an airline flight departing, transiting and arriving at its destination. Using a flight tracker is extremely helpful when you plan to pick someone up at the airport, as you can see exactly when their flight will arrive. The information is continuously updated in real time, notifying you of unexpected delays or flights ahead of schedule.

The best thing about a flight tracker is its ease of use and the price – it’s free! Many online sites provide this service making it a breeze to check on that special someone you are expecting. Conversely, if you have just seen your son or daughter at the airport and you want to make sure that his plane has arrived safely at the other end, a flight tracker will allow you to monitor the geographical location of the plane in flight and will indicate to you when the plane landed safely.

To use a flight tracker you will need to enter information such as the name of the airlines, a date and a flight number. You may also be asked for the airport code, such as LAX for Los Angeles International Airport or JFK for New York John F. Kennedy Airport. The current status of the flight will then appear, whether it is boarding, already in flight, approaching or landed.

When an aircraft is in flight, a flight tracker will allow you to monitor its geographic location in real time as it heads towards its destination. A GPS-like satellite map with a flight path indicator – a line drawn from departure to destination to mark the path the aircraft will take – shows its progress. A small icon represents the aircraft. As you refresh your page by reloading it every few minutes, you can see the plane progress along its path. Statistics such as altitude, speed in knots, aircraft type, flight number, and a continuously updated estimated time of arrival are usually listed.
When the plane reaches the end of its journey, the flight tracker will show you that the plane is approaching and finally landed. The gate number will also be provided!
This service is also useful for making sure your flight departs as scheduled. This is especially important if booked as a stopover, which is when the flight is arriving from another destination to land briefly at your airport. Anything that might have affected the timing of your flight’s earlier leg, from bad weather, a strong headwind, or even mechanical pre-flight delays, can mean a delay for you. But a flight tracker will let you know if your flight is running on time.
Using this free service is a real convenience and once you take advantage of it, you will probably be hooked. Links to other pages may provide related information such as airport and terminal maps and local weather conditions.
To find a flight tracker, simply enter “flight tracker” into any search engine and you’ll be on top of the next flight faster than you can say “Goodbye!” Some flight trackers are limited to domestic flights, so if you are planning to track an international flight, you may need to track a specialized tracker.




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