Maybe the insurers didn't have sophisticated algorithms, and her prediction was something like: For example on Flightradar24, etc, you could see that a particular plane on a particular date maybe flew New York - Austin, then Austin - Boston and then Boston - New York. On the next day it might be the same or a different plane. On the next day you'd just have to see if the NY - Austin flight is delayed, and you could deduce that since the airline usually uses 1 plane to do the 3 above routes, that plane will be delayed for the Austin - Boston and Boston - New York routes...

The Paper, citing Yangtse Evening Post, said she was able to receive relevant information beforehand that tells her if the flight was going to be delayed or cancelled.

3rd and 4th paragraphs of the article.