Chief Airline Officer game FAQ

Yes. You can register and play for free. Optional credits are $5 each, or four for $15. One credit unlocks a consultant-style extra: route analysis, the livery studio, or founding an alliance. Joining an existing alliance stays free. Core airline competition does not require a purchase.

No. Credits unlock optional tools — route analysis, the livery studio, and founding an alliance. They do not add cash or aircraft, and they do not change how passengers choose flights. Every airline is scored with the same rules.

One in-game day advances about every 45 real minutes. A game month is 30 game days, about 22.5 real hours. The world clock keeps advancing between sessions, so the market moves while you are away.

Chief Airline Officer runs in a modern web browser on desktop or mobile. Create a free account and join a world — there is nothing to install.

Yes. Open worlds accept new airlines after the clock has started. You found a carrier with the same starter cash as everyone else ($25 million) and play the current game date. The calendar does not rewind.

Join the Discord at https://discord.gg/nNK56unYE. That is the fastest place for questions, bug reports, and ideas. Email also works for account help.

Demand is built from 21,000+ real cities and regions worldwide. In the United States that is all 3,222 counties, from Census data. Canada uses census divisions, Mexico uses municipios, and the rest of the world uses GeoNames cities plus leftover admin-1 regions. A traveler starts in one of those places and chooses among nearby airports by travel time. Each origin can consider up to 10 airports. Travel time is a straight-line estimate, capped at about 165 minutes.

They compare complete offers: which nearby airport they would use, the fare, the travel time to that airport, the service on board, and whether a connection beats a nonstop. Business, leisure, and visiting-friends-and-relatives travelers weigh those pieces differently. A one-stop is offered only when two real flights meet at a hub, on the same airline or on alliance partners. Every airline is scored with the same rules.

The game is free. Optional credits are $5 each, or four for $15. One credit unlocks one of three tools: route analysis, the livery studio, or founding an alliance. Joining an alliance that already exists is free. Credits do not add cash or aircraft, and they do not change how passengers choose flights.

Every new airline starts with $25 million on the current game date. Joining a world that is already running does not rewind the calendar and does not add extra starter cash. You buy or lease aircraft, open routes, and compete for the same passengers as the airlines already flying.

Yes. You can order new aircraft, buy from the used market, lease, or finance. A used asking price steps down the longer that listing sits unsold. As an airframe ages it costs more to operate and its reliability falls. Airframes retire at 40 years. You set a cabin layout for the airplane you put on a route.

Fuel prices and interest rates move with the world economy. The simulation also includes shocks such as a fuel spike, a pandemic, or a war. If cash cannot cover lease or finance payments, payroll, and gate fees, a 90-game-day insolvency clock starts. Restoring coverage stops that clock. A corporate loan desk is there when you still have room to borrow.

Yes. One in-game day advances about every 45 real minutes, including while you are signed out. A game month is 30 game days, about 22.5 real hours. Routes, fares, and aircraft you already set stay in the schedule. You do not have to watch the clock for the airline to keep flying.

Passenger demand, the fleet desk, and the shared world are written up on the airline management game page. A separate roundup places Chief Airline Officer next to other airline games using only what those games publish about themselves. Player-visible fixes are on the changelog.