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Career Ranks and Promotions

Career ranks show your position inside your current airline. Ranks affect pay, promotion path, and long-term progression. They do not replace type ratings. You still need the right Career type rating or active training path for the aircraft you want to fly.

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Rank order

Career Mode uses this rank path:

1. First Officer.
2. Senior First Officer.
3. Captain.
4. Senior Captain.

You start as a First Officer path pilot after onboarding or direct entry unless a contract says otherwise.

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What each rank does

Ranks mainly improve career value through pay and progression. Dispatch access still depends on employer fleet, type ratings, contract state, medical clearance, line checks, and current location.

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Promotion basics

Promotions are offered by your current airline when you meet the requirements. FlyHub checks:

• Employer hours with the current airline.
• Continuous tenure with the current airline.
• Reputation.
• Recent performance.
• Current rank.
• Existing promotion offers or pending promotion contracts.

When a promotion is ready, it appears as a promotion offer. You must sign the new promotion contract before the new rank and compensation become active.

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Base promotion requirements

These are the base requirements before airline-tier and union adjustments. Recent performance is based on your recent scored Career flights with the current airline.

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Tier-adjusted promotion requirements

Higher-tier airlines slightly reduce promotion requirements. The current system reduces requirements by airline tier:

• Employer hours are reduced by 3% per tier above 1-star.
• Tenure is reduced by 2.5% per tier above 1-star.
• Reputation requirement is reduced by 0.1 per tier above 1-star.
• Recent performance requirement is reduced by 0.05 per tier above 1-star.

This means a 5-star airline can pay more and have better tier economics, but it can also move qualified pilots through promotions slightly faster once they are inside the company.

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Standard promotion table by tier

The table below shows the non-union requirements after tier adjustment. In this table:

• h means employer hours with the current airline.
• w means continuous tenure weeks with the current airline.
• rep means Career reputation.
• perf means recent performance score.

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Union promotion adjustment

Union membership can improve promotion requirements. After the tier adjustment, union membership applies:

• Employer hours are reduced to 90%.
• Tenure is reduced to 90%.
• Reputation requirement drops by 0.1.
• Recent performance requirement drops by 0.1.

Union membership is not available immediately. It opens after 60 days with an active signed employment contract. Union dues are monthly and scale by airline tier. See Career Economy and Airline Tiers.

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Union-adjusted examples

These examples show how union membership changes the final requirement.

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Promotion contracts

A promotion is not active just because you qualify. When FlyHub creates a promotion offer:

1. Open Job Market.
2. Review the promotion offer.
3. Review the new rank and pay.
4. Sign the promotion contract.
5. Return to Career pages after the contract is active.

Promotion contracts keep you with the same airline. Your employer tenure and seniority remain continuous.

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Promotion pay

Promotion pay is calculated from rank, airline tier, region, and airline pay profile. Promotion offers also use raise protection. The promotion hourly rate is generated from the airline/rank band, but it must be at least a 10% raise over your current hourly rate. This means promotion should feel meaningful even if the generated band is close to your current pay. For pay bands by tier and rank, see Career Economy and Airline Tiers.

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Why you may not see a promotion yet

You may not see a promotion if:

• You do not have enough employer hours.
• You do not have enough continuous tenure.
• Your reputation is too low.
• Your recent performance is too low.
• You already have an unread promotion offer.
• You already have a pending promotion contract.
• You are already at Senior Captain.

Check Career Dashboard, My Company, Job Market, and Notifications for clues.

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Rank and type ratings

Rank and type ratings are separate systems. Rank says what role you hold in the company. Type ratings say which aircraft families you can fly. For example:

• A Captain without the right type rating cannot fly that family.
• A First Officer with a valid type rating can fly eligible company assignments for that family.
• A pilot in training may only see the family they are training on until training is complete.

See Career Game Loop for the type-rating guide.

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Common mistakes

• Thinking a promotion happens automatically without signing the promotion contract.
• Expecting rank to unlock aircraft without the right type rating.
• Switching employers right before meeting promotion requirements.
• Ignoring recent performance. Hours alone are not enough.
• Joining the union without budgeting for monthly dues.
• Comparing two pilots without checking airline tier, region, union status, and current employer tenure.