Waiting for a flight to arrive can be nerve-wracking. If you're picking someone up, you have to plan for the trip to the airport, parking, paying for parking and finding where you are allowed to wait to greet arrivals. Once you've done all of that, it can be very disconcerting to learn the arrival of the flight has been delayed by a few minutes or a few hours. Being able to check flight arrival times and plan accordingly helps to avoid unnecessary frustration for everyone.

Step 1.

Make sure you have to correct flight number and airline and then call the airline's general information number. This number can be found on the company's website, on the ticket or reservation information, or sometimes in the phone book. If you are still having trouble finding the airline's number, call the airport and ask for that airline's ticket desk.

Step 2.

Go online to check your flight status. A number of websites are designed to give you up-to-date information about flights. Many airports also offer a look at their in-airport arrivals screen so you can see the same information online that you would see in the airport. Most airlines offer detailed information on flights, including estimated and actual departure times as well as estimated and actual arrival times. Using airlines' flight status tools, enter the flight number or the route of the aircraft to find out when it is expected to arrive.

Step 3.

Download an application for your smartphone that allows you to track flight statuses. FlightView offers a Blackberry application and has a mobile site that works on any mobile device. FlightTrack offers a paid application for iPhones that features live flight status tracking while Trip Tracker offers both free and paid iPhone applications that can track flights from numerous airlines worldwide.