Flight statuses explained

Scheduled

The flight is planned and no deviation has been reported. The times you see are the published schedule. Status usually becomes more detailed in the hours before departure, when check-in and boarding information is published.

Boarding and departed

Boarding means passengers are being called to the gate, if you're at the airport, head there now. Departed means the aircraft has left the gate or taken off, depending on what the data source reports; the actual departure time replaces the estimate.

Delayed

A delay means the airline or airport has published a revised time later than the schedule. Trackers show both: the original scheduled time (often struck through) and the new estimate. Estimates can improve as well as worsen, crews sometimes make up time in the air, so an aircraft that departs late may still arrive close to schedule.

Cancelled and diverted

Cancelled means the flight will not operate; contact your airline for rebooking, and check whether local passenger-rights rules (such as EU Regulation 261/2004 for flights touching the EU) apply to your situation.

Diverted means the aircraft is landing at a different airport than planned, usually for weather, technical or medical reasons. The airline arranges onward transport; information is typically updated once the aircraft is on the ground.

Status unknown

Sometimes a data source simply has no current report for a flight, common for flights far in the future or just after a data interruption. An unknown status is not a bad sign in itself, but it is also not confirmation that everything is on time. A reliable tracker says "unknown" rather than guessing.