§03The forecast

Can we predict where they go?

Short version — yes, about 49% of the time. Out of 200landed flights we've scored, our guess named the right destination on 97; 103 we got wrong. Same-metro hits (e.g. picked TEB, landed JFK) count as correct because the destination city was right.

How it works — Every active flight gets a fresh hourly call. The model sees the owner's briefing (companies, residences, recurring routes, controversies), their last 20 flights, and the plane's current position + heading + speed. It returns a destination ICAO, one or two alternates, and a confidence score. When the plane lands we compare to the real arrival airport. No web search per call — the call is offline and reproducible.

97/200
Correct49%
103/200
Wrong52%

This week's picks

Pre-departure predictions made before the wheels are up. The desk picks ~12 names a week based on public events, tour schedules, and corporate calendars. Each pick gets graded when the matching flight lands.

In flight now

3 live

Live AI predictions for every tracked plane currently in the air. Each card lists the most likely destination, alternates, and the desk's reasoning. Cards disappear when the plane lands — see “How we did” below for the score.

Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani
A7-HHE·Boeing 747-8 BBJ
82
Predicted destination
LFPB
Paris-Le Bourget International Airport
AltEGLLLFPG

The aircraft is heading northeast at 48° from Utah, and all ALIGNED candidates (Δhdg ≤ 25°) are European airports. The Emir's recurring destinations include LFPB and EGLL, and recent flights show multiple Paris-area arrivals (LFPG, LFPO, LFPB). Past predictions incorrectly guessed KADW (off-track), but geometry now strongly supports a European destination. LFPB is both a recurring destination and directly aligned (Δhdg 10°), making it the top pick.

ETA20:00 UTCRemaining4,453 nm
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan
A6-ALN·Boeing 777-200ER
40
Predicted destination
HEGN
Hurghada International Airport
AltHECAGMME

No ALIGNED candidate (Δhdg ≤25°) in the table. The closest two are HEGN (Δhdg 46°) and HECA (53°). HEGN was the most recent flight destination (OMAA→HEGN on 2026-06-16), and the current heading 241° roughly points toward Egypt, requiring a moderate turn. HECA is a recurring destination and mentioned in the briefing (Cairo). Confidence is low because the plane is not aligned with any listed airport and past predictions for this person have been 0/3 correct.

ETA14:02 UTCRemaining1,053 nm
Oprah Winfrey
N540W·Gulfstream G700
65
Predicted destination
KMDW
Chicago Midway International Airport
AltKTEBKPHL

The aircraft is heading 70° over the North Atlantic at 594 kt, and all candidate airports have Δhdg > 90°, meaning none are aligned with the current track. This suggests the plane is still in an early climb or turn phase, likely toward a destination in the eastern US. KMDW is the closest recurring destination (1592 nm, Δhdg 155°) and appears in recent flights (KPHL→KMDW on 2026-06-17), making it the most plausible final destination despite the large heading offset. Confidence is moderate because the geometry is ambiguous and no ALIGNED candidate exists.

ETA04:30 UTCRemaining1,592 nm

How we did

1717 correct2434 wrong

Every prediction we've scored, newest first. Each row shows what we picked, where the plane actually landed, and the verdict. Green = correct destination (same airport, an offered alternate, or a same-metro field). Red = different city.

How the desk works

+ Open
  1. 1Each owner has a briefing. Companies controlled, primary residences, recurring routes, controversies. 100–150 words, distilled by hand from public OSINT (FAA registry, SEC filings, news, financial press, Wikipedia). Nothing private, nothing scraped.
  2. 2For every active flight, the model sees: the briefing, the plane's last 20 completed flights as origin→destination pairs, and the current position (lat/lon, altitude, ground speed, heading). No web search, no real-time news.
  3. 3The output is structured: one destination ICAO, one or two alternates, a confidence score, an ETA, and a 3–4 sentence reasoning. When the plane lands we resolve its arrival airport via the same ICAO index and score the prediction. Same-metro arrivals (e.g. picked TEB, landed JFK) count as correct because the destination city was right.

We don't use real-time web context for the per-flight call — it's offline and reproducible. The weekly "This week's picks" section above DOES use web context (one Grok :online call per week), but the per-flight loop is fully data-driven from the briefing + history + position.

Score, last 30 days

Daily verdict roll-up. Bars are stacked: correct, wrong. Reads left-to-right, oldest to today.

CorrectWrong

About these predictions

Predictions are model output, not flight plans. We have no access to scheduling systems and no relationship with anyone in aviation. See the methodology for details.

Attributions derived from FAA registry + ADSB Exchange + SEC filings; may be incomplete or outdated. Methodology · Report an error. Observational use only.