Definition
A service provided by ATC to VFR aircraft, on a workload-permitting basis, in which the controller provides radar identification, traffic advisories, and safety alerts. The pilot remains responsible for navigation, terrain and obstacle clearance, and collision avoidance. Officially called Radar Traffic Information Service or VFR radar advisories.
Plain English
A controller watches your VFR flight on radar and calls out other traffic and hazards while you fly. You stay in charge of where you go and how you avoid things, but you get an extra set of eyes from the ground.
Context Anchor
Commonly used by VFR pilots during cross-country flights, especially when flying through busy airspace or near larger airports.
Derivation
The phrase comes from the controller 'following' the aircraft's progress on radar. It is a plain-English nickname for what the FAA formally calls Radar Traffic Information Service.
Why Pilots Care
Improves situational awareness and reduces mid-air risk on longer VFR trips without the workload of an IFR clearance.
Intuition Check
Do not assume flight following means air traffic control is responsible for separating you from every aircraft. It is a helpful radar-based advisory service, given when available, while the pilot remains responsible for seeing and avoiding other traffic.
Example Sentence 1
On the way to the practice area, the pilot called approach and requested flight following for the cross-country leg to the next airport.
Example Sentence 2
With flight following active, the controller called traffic at two o'clock, four miles, opposite direction.