Reading an aircraft map: position is not flight status
An aircraft near an airport does not tell you when a passenger will arrive. Start with three questions: is it the right aircraft, when was it observed, and what decision are you trying to make?
A callsign is not a ticket lookup
Maps with callsign search match the callsign in observation data. Use a known callsign unchanged; do not guess a replacement for a ticket-number prefix. A booking reference is not a callsign and cannot by itself identify an aircraft in observation data.
References: FlyItalyADSB — Public observation API and license
Read the timestamp before the marker
The observation time belongs to the displayed coordinates, not a promise that the aircraft remains there. As an example of source limitations, FlyItalyADSB supplies data as is, without guarantees of coverage or timeliness.
References: Creative Commons — CC BY-SA 4.0: attribution, sharing and no warranties
Choose the source for the question
A map helps explore observed movement in an area. Gate changes and when to leave for the airport require airline or airport information. An absent aircraft does not prove cancellation; a moving marker does not prove landing or arrival at a gate.
Example: a 90-second-old position
An aircraft was observed at 12:00:00 and you read its position at 12:01:30 in the same time zone. The observation is 90 seconds old. This measures time since observation, not flight delay.
A second observation at 12:01:20 is only 10 seconds old at that reading time. Do not estimate arrival from straight-line distance and displayed speed: routing, speed and arrival procedures can change.