Is there a way to add the tracked aircraft,s registration number/tail number to the data presented?
For me, this would add a totally new dimension to aircraft tracking.
Example: Nortwest/Delta Airbus 330-330 N814NW.
Flyole
Not here. Wouldn’t it be nice? However, there is one way to get the tail number off of some airline flights. Every airline has a unique, two-letter identification called an IATA designator. The easiest way to find this is to look up an airline on Wikipedia. The company’s logo is normally displayed, and below this is a box containing relevant information about the airline. In normal cases the IATA designator will be just below the logo, next to two other identifiers - the ICAO designator and the airline’s radio callsign. Some of these codes don’t make a great deal of sense - for instance, JetBlue does not use the obvious code “JB” - their IATA designator is B6. For the purpose of this demonstration, I will use JetBlue Airways Flight 1061.
Next, to to acarsd.org. On the left hand side menu, click “ACARS search.” This search engine is difficult to use, but it works well enough if done correctly. Where it says “Flightnumber”, type in B61061. (Incidentally, it defaults to four numbers, so if you were looking up JetBlue Flight 84, you would enter B60084.) Press “last seven days” and choose “HTML table”.
Right now, unfortunately, the site isn’t working too well. But this is the normal procedure. A search for a tail number can also be performed. Keep in mind that the ACARS website uses GMT as its time zone, which is five hours ahead of eastern standard time in the United States.
Hope this helps. Post something here if you have any more questions.
Continental’s flight status page shows a lot of details, including the aircraft number. Please note that this is NOT the registration but an internal number used by COA. However, you can cross-reference the aircraft number with the registration by going to Planespotters.net.
Among the data contained on COA’s flight status page (besides the usual times and gates):
Meals provided
Aircraft details
A link to today’s operations giving a summary of weather and delays
Where the aircraft came from before the current flight
A standyby list
A seat map
As I said it is a great flight status page
This is all also available on their PDA page. CO is hands down the best airline to nonrev or fly standby on for this reason. You can see your rank on the standby list, and even the reason for a delay or cancellation.
Thanks for the reminder. I had the page bookmarked on my old PDA - need to do the same for my current smartphone.