Help centre · For airline staff

Finances and the airline economy

With finances on, every accepted flight books its revenue and costs to the airline's account. The Airline economy switch adds more detail: rates by region and airport size, cargo, aircraft leases and wear.

Finances

Tick Finances on the Flights & scoring tab of Staff → Airline settings → Settings and set the basic rates: base fare, fare per nm, fuel per kg, crew per hour, landing fee and maintenance per hour. Each accepted flight then shows its result on the PIREP page, and Airline → Finances shows the account month by month. Staff can add adjustments (a sponsorship, a fine) with a note.

If a counted flight is later rejected, its revenue and costs are taken back out.

The airline economy

Turn on Airline economy under Staff → Airline settings → Optional features (it needs finances on), then set the rates on Staff → Money → Economy:

Fuel costs depend on the departure region (Europe, North America, the Middle East and so on).
Landing and handling fees depend on the airport's size (small, medium, large).
Cargo earns a rate per kg per 1,000 nm.
Leases: give an aircraft a monthly lease, and it's charged on the 1st of each month. A new lease's first month is charged only for the days from the day you set it.

Aircraft condition and checks

Each flight wears its aircraft down (0.5% per flight hour by default, and 5% more for a landing harder than your hard-landing limit). When an aircraft's condition drops to the check level (60% by default), it goes for a maintenance check: the check's cost is booked, the condition goes back to 100%, and with Maintenance on the aircraft is grounded for 12 hours. All these numbers can be changed on the Economy page.

If a flight is rejected after it counted, its aircraft gets that flight's wear back.

More economy switches

Each of these has its own switch under Staff → Airline settings → Optional features. They are off until you turn them on.

Which routes make money: each route's income, costs and profit over 90 days on Airline → Finances, and a "Pays well" tag on Book a flight.
Monthly results: from the 1st to the 7th, pilots see last month's results on their dashboard.
Repairs cost money: a landing that sends the aircraft for an inspection, and each tech-log fault you mark fixed, books a repair cost.
Maintenance bases: checks happen only at the hubs you tick. An aircraft that's due a check can only fly to a base.
Sell aircraft: with Buy aircraft on, sell an aircraft you own. It is worth less the more it has flown and the more worn it is.
Aircraft insurance: a monthly premium from what the fleet is worth. It's cheaper after a month with no hard landing.
New routes start slowly: with Passengers and money on, a new route starts with fewer passengers, and they build up over 4 weeks.
Loan rate from the airline's record: a new bank loan costs 4 to 8 per cent, depending on profit, on-time flights and hard landings.
Fuel price lock: lock today's market fuel price for 30 or 90 days, for a fee.
Cabin service level: basic, standard or premium catering. Passengers notice it on flights of 2 hours or more.
Cargo contracts: each Monday, 3 offers to fly a route a set number of times by Sunday for a bonus.
Hub discounts: handling costs less at a busy hub.
Fuel tankering: fuel left from the last flight costs what it cost where it was bought.
Rent out idle aircraft: an aircraft nobody flew for 14 days earns rent until its next flight.