Even if you didn’t fly anywhere this summer, you’ve probably heard about the massive IT outage that affected computers running both Crowdstrike and the Windows operating system. The failure rendered these devices unusable, leaving employees at hospitals, banking institutions, airlines and other businesses unable to perform basic work tasks. It was chaos.

Airlines experienced several thousand flight cancellations and delays, and what was worse, people who expected to fly during the outage had difficulty even finding out whether their flight was affected. This is a thing of the past and we hope that nothing of this magnitude will happen again any time soon. But if your airline’s website or app breaks, you may have another way to check your flight status: your iPhone.

There’s a built-in flight tracker hidden in your iPhone’s Messages app, allowing you to view flight status details and share them with someone in an instant. Below we will show you how to do it.

Don’t miss the best and worst airlines for flight cancellations and the best hidden features in iOS 18.

How to track your flight via iMessage

Before we begin, you must meet a few requirements:

• Make sure iMessage is enabled (it doesn’t work with SMS/MMS).
• You need your flight number somewhere in your text messages, whether you have sent this information to someone (including yourself) or whether it has already been sent to you.
• The flight number must be submitted in this format: [Airline] [Flight number]for example American Airlines 9707.

Launch the native Messages app on your iPhone and open the SMS thread with your flight information. You’ll know the flight tracking feature is working when the flight information text appears underlined, meaning it’s actionable and you can tap on it.

If your flight is several months away or has already passed, you may see a “Flight information not available” message. You may also see another flight that isn’t yours, as airlines reuse flight numbers.

How to access the hidden flight tracker

Although the Airline Name/Flight Number format highlighted above is the best way to go, there are other SMS options that produce the same result. So let’s say we stick with it American Airlines 9707Other options that can bring up the flight tracker include:

• AmericanAirlines9707 (no spaces)
• American Airlines 9707 (just one space)
• AA9707 (Airline name is abbreviated and without spaces)
• AA9707 (abbreviated and spaces)

I would suggest that you leave the airline name spelled out in full and – as in the previous section – add a space between the two pieces of information, as these alternative options may not work for some airlines.

Track the details of your flight in real time

Once everything is set, tap the flight information in your text messages. If the feature is working properly, the following two options should appear in a quick action menu:

• Preview flight: View flight details. Tap here if you want to view more information about the flight.
• Copy flight code: Copy the flight code to your clipboard (in case you want to send your flight details to someone else via SMS or email).

If you select Preview flightAt the top of the window you’ll see the best part of this feature: a real-time flight tracking map. A line connects the two destinations, and a small plane moves between them, indicating where the flight is currently located.

Below the map you can see important flight information:

• Airline name and flight number
• Flight status (on-time arrival, delay, cancellation, etc.)
• Terminal and gate numbers (for arrival and departure)
• Arrival and departure time
• Flight duration
• Baggage claim (the number of the baggage carousel)

If you swipe left on the bottom half of the flight tracker, you can switch between flights, but only if there is a return flight.

Don’t miss how to get your iPhone out of Emergency SOS mode and how to use the hidden Safari feature on your Mac that makes multitasking a breeze.