Originally Posted by
davidjohnson6
In ye olden days, what the dispatcher or gate agent said was the only source of info that pax had on delays or when "their" aircraft would turn up to take pax to their destination
At least in U.S. there was also the respective airline's phone-in reservation system. If picking up a passenger at an airport, that was the only way to determine the actual flight arrival time.
My preference is Flightaware. Living under Class B, comes in handy to see who's flying over my house, such as the infrequent oddball AN-124. While traveling, the "where's my airplane" feature is a plus.