Know Exactly When Your Nephew's Flight Lands
SkyText sends you a text the moment his plane touches down — so you can time the pickup, not guess at it.
By Tom Walsh
Track a FlightMy nephew Marcus flies in every Thanksgiving — he goes to school in Austin, so it's a straight shot up to Chicago O'Hare. I'm usually the one who picks him up because I live closest to the airport, which means I'm also the one who needs to know exactly when that plane hits the tarmac. O'Hare is not a place you want to be circling around in your car for forty minutes.
The problem was always timing. Marcus is a good kid but he's not great at texting updates when he's in transit. I'd ask him to let me know when he landed and he'd forget, or his phone would still be on airplane mode and he'd forget to switch it off. I'd end up sitting in the cell phone lot just guessing, watching other people get picked up, wondering if he'd already walked past me.
I started using SkyText about a year and a half ago. My sister — Marcus's mom — mentioned it after she'd been using it to track my brother-in-law's work trips. You enter the flight number, enter the phone numbers you want to alert, and that's it. When the flight lands, the texts go out. I added myself and my sister so we both know the minute he's on the ground.
Now I leave for the airport based on the text, not based on whatever estimate I made an hour earlier. If the flight's late, I'm not sitting in the lot. If it lands early, I'm not rushing. It's changed how I handle airport pickups entirely — not just for Marcus, but for anyone I'm picking up.
He still forgets to text when he lands, by the way. But it doesn't matter anymore.
The challenge
What makes this difficult.
- He doesn't text when he lands, so you're left guessing
- Timing an airport pickup without knowing the real landing time
- Circling or waiting in the cell phone lot longer than necessary
- Coordinating with his parents who also want to know he arrived
The solution
How SkyText helps.
- You get a text the second his flight lands — leave for the airport at exactly the right time
- His parents can receive the same alert so no one's calling around
- Nothing required on his end — he doesn't need to text anyone
- One-time setup per trip, works on any phone
How it works
Three steps to peace of mind.
Enter the flight number
Type the flight number. We verify it against live data.
Add your phone number
Enter the mobile number where you want to receive updates.
Get a text when they land
We track the flight and send you an SMS when it touches down.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
How quickly after landing does the text arrive?
SkyText sends the alert within a minute or two of the wheels hitting the runway — well before he's off the plane and walking toward arrivals.
What if his parents also want to know when he lands?
You can add up to 5 phone numbers to a single SkyText alert. Add your number, his parents' numbers — everyone gets the same text at the same time.
Can I use SkyText for his return flight too?
Yes. You'd set up a new alert for the return flight the same way you set up the inbound one. A lot of families set up both directions — one alert when he arrives, one when he's safely back home.
Founder, SkyText
Aviation lover who built SkyText because families deserve to know when someone lands safely. Has tracked more flights than he'd like to admit.