Real-Time Flight Information (TextFIDS) for Mobile Devices

Real time flight information (TextFIDS) from either O'Hare or Midway International Airports is now available via e-mail capable mobile devices, free-of-charge.  

O'Hare Travelers: Compose an e-mail to arrivals@ohare.com or departures@ohare.com   Shortcuts: a@ohare.com or d@ohare.com

Midway Travelers: Compose an e-mail to arrivals@midwayairport.org or departures@midwayairport.org   Shortcuts: a@midwayairport.org or d@midwayairport.org

The first line of the body of the message should contain one or more of the search criteria  (Please note: the subject line of the message is to be ignored).
(1) The flight number.  This is the quickest and most accurate way to find your flight.
(2) The time the flight is originally scheduled to arrive or depart (AM/PM designation is optional, but suggested). The search time is for 20 minutes +/- for the time entered. This service is valid for flights within four hours from the time the original e-mail is sent.
(3) The name of the airline, or the airline's two letter code (for example, American Airlines=AA, United Airlines=UA).
(4) The originating or destination airport; either the name of the city or the three letter airport code (for example, O'Hare=ORD, Los Angeles=LAX).

Quick Tips

• Be patient! Some mobile carriers take longer to deliver e-mail to your device. If you send too many e-mails too quickly, the search engine will stop responding to queries from your e-mail address for a short period of time. If you continue to send e-mail, you will be ignored for longer and longer periods of time.
• Online help for TextFIDS is available by sending the word "help" on the first line of a message to any TextFIDS address. The response will contain basic usage information and a list of available help topics for more detailed information.
• Disable your e-mail signature! The search engine only looks at the first line of your message, but some e-mail that includes a signature can become confusing to it.
• If you have problems with HTML or web-based e-mail clients, try placing an equal sign (=) at the end of your query. This is used as a cue to let the search engine know it should stop looking for more criteria.
• Don't have much information to go on? Put the word "FULL" at the beginning or end of your query, and the search engine will respond with up to 50 results! Regular queries will return a maximum of ten flights.
• If you've tried everything else and are still having trouble getting results, send an e-mail to TXTFIDS@OHARE.COM and let us know. With your help we can expand support for new devices and new ways to send e-mail.
• Your airline is still the most definitive source of information regarding your flight. In an emergency or other important situation, or for additional information regarding your flight, contact your airline in directly.