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How Would You Rate FlightStats.com?

Like most travelers, professional musician Pete Walker doesn't have time to waste when flying from one airport to another. "With very little time between gigs, and the difficulties of traveling with an instrument getting worse all time, especially after the latest security changes, I want reliable flights and as little time as possible sitting around in airports with my instrument stewing in a luggage queue," he said.

Fliers like Walker need on-time statistics and flight status updates to keep them moving at the airport -- but until recently, it was difficult to find those in one handy place. Enter FlightStats.com, which promises to bring together a cornucopia of information about airports, security wait times, flight status and much more. Does the site make the grade? Read on...

The Basics
Before the advent of FlightStats.com, fliers looking for comprehensive airport and flight information could wade their way through the Department of Transportation's annual flight statistics -- if they had the mental stamina, interest and eyesight to get through them. Or they could check half a dozen different Web sites before each trip: mapping sites, traffic report sites, flight status sites, weather sites, airport delay roundups, security wait time sites, ad nauseam, World Wide Web without end.

FlightStats.com aims to make this process simpler. The site offers all of the above, and heaps more, all packaged in a way that puts the old government and airline data schlubs to shame (not to mention data wonk columnists like me).

Competitors
FlightStats.com helps fill a need that was previously unaddressed by travel resources on the Web. Although the Department of Transportation has historical flight data, it's hardly presented in a user-friendly format. The FAA provides a map of flight delays around the country, but lists only those delays that have to do with air traffic control orders -- so delays for other reasons may not be reflected. Meanwhile, many individual airport or airline sites offer up-to-date flight status information for their own location or for their own flights, but FlightStats.com puts all of that widespread data -- and more -- into one place.

Test Drive
To put FlightStats.com to the test, I did a simple search on Airport Information for a nearby airport, and found on the first page:

• Airport delay info
• Security wait times
• Weather details
• Flight status: departures
• Flight status: arrivals
• Performance scorecard
• Weather
• Departing and arriving flights (including what percentage of time the flights were on time, late, "very late," "excessively late" or canceled)
• An interactive Google map of the airport and surrounding area
• Latitude
• Longitude
• Current time
• Time zone
• Current published fares for departing flights
• Current traffic conditions including real-time local road closures and backups

This is just for airports; you can also check by airline, flight, frequent flier programs and published fares. There is also a flight monitor that appears to be every bit as accurate as the in-flight screens folks are looking at on their own flights.