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Real Time: Airport Arrivals and Departures
Have you ever wondered what time certain flights were arriving or departing on any given day? You may need to pick someone up from the airport, or if there’s weather problems or a problem with an airline and you just want to see how the flights are running? You’re at work and want to check to see if your boyfriend has boarded his plane yet at Miami International? Is your daughter’s flight still delayed at Chicago O’ Hare? I’ve found navigating the above web site to be a little bit easier as opposed to looking at the airline’s web site or calling the airline or online travel agency as the call-hold time can be quite long.
After clicking the hyperlink or the subject up at the top, select the state or territory you’re interested in. After that, then select any airport of your choice. On the airports web site, there should be a link that directs you to information regarding flights. Following that, there should be another link that reads, “Real Time Flight Arrivals and Departures”. Every airport web site words it slightly differently and has this “real time” link in a different place. NOTE: Not every airport web site has this feature. If it does have this feature, it’s VERY convenient, and the layout is very familiar to the one that they have (in real time) at the airport! Take a look at the screen shots I took below as examples:
Manchester Airport in New Hampshire:
Miami International Airport:
T.F. Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island:
Honolulu International Airport in Hawaii:
Logan Airport in Boston has a nicely done interface that is also very clever. If a flight is showing “in air”, and you click on the “track” button, it will allow you to track it’s movements on a map.
Some airport web sites such as Bradley International in Connecticut have flight trackers.
The Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina has a direct link on their site to the FAA web page that has a real time “Airport Status Page”. This page displays a map that will show symbols advising you if any airport is having problems with it’s traffic and what the reason is. (Some airports have to divert planes that are scheduled to arrive due to weather or Air Traffic Control problems.) If you follow the directions on the page, you will learn how to read the map. Click on the example I have down below.
You don’t need to know how to read airport codes because on “mouse over”, they are automatically translated for you. Go back to the above paragraph and try the live map out for yourself. Or just go HERE!
These airport web sites also provide prospective travelers with tourist information. The Niagara Falls International Airport has plenty of that! Ready to go to CANADA?
Those who live in Tucson are very lucky. On the Tucson Airport web site, there is a very handy-dandy, interactive map that displays all the airports in the US that can be flown to – either non-stop or direct. Click on the city you would like to travel to. A pop up window will then display the airline that will take you there along with its days of operation. If you click on the link within the pop up, it will take you right to the airline web site where you can book your ticket!! How cool is that? Give it a go!
Using Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky Airport as an example here, one thing every airport web site does not leave out is a list of each and every airline it services along with the phone number and web link to that carrier.
Just about on every web site as well, you will find both short and long term parking information. This example here is with Evansville, Indiana.
San Diego International Airport’s web site is just loaded with information.
Take a peak at all the different airports. You’ll find maps, weather information, driving directions, you’ll be able to hear live feeds from the Air Traffic Control Tower, you’ll know which terminal to go to when you arrive to the airport and what the number is to Avis Rental Car. Need I say more? And there is more. But please keep in mind, the smaller the airport, the less features on the web site it will have, generally speaking. I’m not too sure about the size of T.F. Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island, but for not one of the major airports, I was more than impressed with that one!
So, passengers, please don’t stress yourselves out there and wait for hours for an agent to answer the line for the airlines, Travelocity, Expedia and the like. First go to your airport web site to get the information you need. If you cannot find it there, then at least click on the link to the web site for the airline you’ll be flying on. You should be able to find what you’re looking for there. Hopefully.
Have a happy and safe flight. And please don’t forget to send me a postcard. 
