When traveling, there are few things as frustrating as finding out you have a lengthy flight delay — especially when you don’t know whether to wait it out at the airport or completely change your plans.
Whether there’s a minor delay or an unexpected rescheduling, tracking the aircraft scheduled to operate your route can provide much-needed clarity and allow you to make informed decisions. Such decisions may include changing or rearranging flights where necessary.
Here’s how to easily track your plane and use that information to navigate potential disruptions more effectively.
Why tracking your plane is useful
Every commercial plane follows a daily schedule, often operating several flights during any 24-hour period. If your flight is running late, it’s often because the aircraft assigned to your route was delayed earlier in the day — possibly due to weather, maintenance or other operational factors.
If you’re not a frequent traveler, you may think that tracking your plane will offer little use. After all, whether you know where it is or not, it will still be delayed, and you’ll still be stuck at the airport.
However, by tracking your inbound plane, you can better understand the reason for the delay and whether it’s likely to get any worse. From there, you can consider the best time to head to the airport (if you’re not already there), whether you should head to the lounge to load up on snacks, or whether you should shift to plan B travel arrangements.
Tracking your plane is especially useful if you’re flying with an airline that only operates a few flights from your departure airport and doesn’t have spare aircraft readily available. Knowing your plane’s location can help inform your next move.
However, if you want to arrive at the airport later than originally planned due to the delay, there are some caveats worth noting.
First, if you’re flying from a hub airport where an airline may have multiple spare planes available, your airline could opt to switch to a different aircraft entirely. In this scenario, you should still arrive at the airport promptly, even if you anticipate a long delay. It could end up being much shorter than you think.
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It’s also important to be aware that just because your inbound flight is running late and behind schedule, it doesn’t mean that it won’t necessarily depart on time. Sometimes aircraft operate on a quick turnaround schedule (especially if you’re flying with a budget carrier), which means you won’t want to dawdle once your plane does arrive.
How to track your inbound plane with FlightAware
One of the easiest ways to track your inbound plane is by using a website or tool such as FlightAware.
These services let you see the current location and status of the aircraft assigned to your route.
Here’s how to monitor your flight using FlightAware.
First, you’ll want to load FlightAware on your laptop or phone (or alternatively use its iOS or Android app).
From there, navigate to “Flight Tracking” and enter either your flight number or the departure and arrival cities of your flight.
On the next screen, you’ll need to look for your inbound aircraft. This should be clear from its flight number or its scheduled arrival and departure.
By clicking on your specific flight, the website will take you to a tracking page, which should also show a “Where is my plane now?” link. Click through here, and you’ll see an update on your aircraft’s current status.
You’ll be able to monitor your aircraft’s status by viewing its current route, estimated arrival at your departure airport, information regarding your scheduled departure, and any expected delays for takeoff or arrival at your final destination.
For example, if you track your flight from Heathrow Airport (LHR) to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and you can see that your aircraft is still en route to LHR, you at least know it will eventually arrive. You’ll also have a rough idea of how long you should expect to wait and whether you might need to extend that lounge visit.
On the other hand, if the tracking data shows that your plane hasn’t even left its previous destination yet, you can surmise that further delays are likely. It may even be worth considering chatting with your airline to get on a different flight.
Using airline apps to track your inbound flight
Most major airlines also offer their own flight-tracking features on their apps or websites.
As with FlightAware, these tools often let you view the status of the aircraft assigned to your flight.
You can usually find this information by looking for an option on the app or website called something like “flight status” or “incoming flights.”
Sometimes, the most detailed version of this feature is only available to passengers booked on the flight, so it’s worth ensuring you’re logged in to your account before trying to access it.
Once you’ve found your flight, most airline sites allow you to check additional details, such as expected arrival times.
Here are links to websites where you can check flight statuses for some of the major U.S. airlines:
In most cases, the site will ask you to input either your flight number or departure and arrival destinations, along with the departure date. Then, it will show you up-to-date information regarding the flight in question.
Bottom line
Tracking your inbound plane is a valuable skill to keep in your travel tool kit — especially during busy travel periods when delays are common. Apps like FlightAware and airline-specific tracking features provide insights that can help you better manage your travel plans.
While tracking isn’t a guarantee of on-time travel and won’t speed up your delayed aircraft, it can give you perspective and more confidence when navigating delays. At the very least, you’ll better understand the situation — and sometimes, that knowledge can be used to get ahead if you need to rearrange a flight.
