About

Wingwait

Wingwait is a free flight tracker built for the person waiting at home. Type the flight number from a boarding pass — like BA283 — and watch the actual aircraft cross the map in real time, with a progress bar, a rough time-to-go, and a link you can send to anyone else who's waiting too.

Where does the data come from?

Aircraft constantly broadcast their position over a radio protocol called ADS-B. Thousands of volunteers around the world run small receivers and pool what they hear into open networks. Wingwait reads from adsb.lol, whose data is open under the ODbL licence. If you have a spot with a view of the sky, a small receiver that feeds adsb.lol is the best way to say thanks. It's the same underlying technology the big commercial trackers use, powered by a community instead of a company.

How accurate is it?

Positions are typically seconds old and usually accurate to within a few hundred metres. The "time to go" is an estimate from the plane's current position and speed — it does not know about taxiing, holding patterns, or gate delays, so treat it as "roughly", not as when to be standing at arrivals.

Why can't I find a flight?

Three common reasons: the plane hasn't taken off yet (try again nearer departure time); it's over an ocean or remote area with no volunteer receivers in range; or the airline's radio callsign differs from the ticket number in a way we didn't catch. Searching again a few minutes later fixes most of it.

What do the colors mean?

Planes are tinted by altitude — warm amber low down, sky blue at cruise. The coral plane is the one you're following, and red means an emergency squawk. In Mil mode, military aircraft are coloured by role: tanker, ISR, fighter, transport and so on. Tap any plane for details, tap the empty map to let it go.

Is it really free?

Yes. It runs on community data and is supported by one small, clearly labelled ad at the end of the flight list. No account, no app to install — though on a phone you can use Share → "Add to Home Screen" to get it fullscreen like an app.

Guides

All guides · Track a flight by number · Planes near me · Military aircraft tracker · Stream overlay · Squawk 7700 tracker · Flightradar24 alternative

Questions or problems?

Get in touch: [email protected]