From Dispatch to Settlement
A Virtual Airlines flight has a lifecycle. The number you see in Dispatch is a forecast for a specific opportunity; the number in Finance is the recorded result after the flight has been validated. Knowing the stages helps you understand why a booked flight can still change, fail, or settle differently from its first preview.The lifecycle at a glance
1. Quote and market hold
When you open Dispatch, FlyHub combines:- the airline and your membership;
- the route or activity source;
- the current weekly and hourly market;
- aircraft location, type, condition, seats, and weight;
- airline ticket and cargo price policy;
- airline reputation and service frequency;
- departure timing and operating-day rules;
- passenger, cargo, VIP, tour, charter, or event restrictions.
2. Booking freezes the important choices
Booking confirms the route, airline, aircraft, operating policy, activity rules, and pilot-requested payload. An event or tour may lock even more of those fields. If the route came from a tour or charter, do not assume it can be replaced with an ordinary schedule after booking. The requested payload is the pilot’s selected passenger or cargo amount within the quote ceiling. It is not yet the same as the recognized payload after a flight. FlyHub validates what the completed operation actually carried. Booking limits are deliberately stricter than some quote or scheduler previews. A normal booking currently supports up to four legs, while a scheduler can create a larger pattern within the limits shown on that page. The confirmation action and final booking result are the authority.3. Prepare and start
In My Flights, review the operation before starting:- airline and operating airline;
- route and aircraft;
- scheduled operating day and UTC time;
- passengers, cargo, and weights;
- zero-fuel and takeoff weight;
- the flight plan or debrief method;
- tracking, recovery, and time-acceleration choices.
4. Fly with the booked facts in mind
The flight is evaluated against the booking. Keep the route and aircraft consistent, respect the operating window, and do not exceed the physical payload or weight envelope. Time acceleration is a policy choice, not a way to remove cost. When it is allowed, costs remain and positive earnings and XP are reduced. When it is prohibited, a result can be treated as invalid, with no normal settlement or XP and the aircraft left in its original position. Operating days and several time windows use UTC. A local midnight crossing can therefore belong to a different operating day than the one on your computer.5. Completion and recognized payload
At completion, FlyHub checks more than whether the aircraft reached the destination. It evaluates the route, aircraft, timing, payload, operating score, and policy compliance. The difference between the requested and recognized payload matters:
Revenue uses recognized passengers and cargo. If a flight completes with less recognized payload than requested, revenue falls with it. Unused seats and unused cargo capacity are not paid.
Cabin demand can also change the mix of recognized passengers. Premium, business, and first-class passengers have higher revenue weights when occupied, but those seats are more sensitive to reputation, condition, comfort, and demand. A premium seat that is not occupied earns nothing.
6. Scoring and operational result
An accepted flight receives an operational result and a pilot-facing score. A score below 8.2 can create an airline penalty of FH$350 for each point below the threshold. Poor execution can therefore reduce the flight result even when the aircraft carried a useful payload. Other results can include:
Closed does not always mean successful. Managers should use Operations and the flight result to understand what actually happened.
7. Settlement
An accepted result is written once to the airline ledger. It combines:- passenger, cargo, ancillary, and eligible contract revenue;
- fuel, airport, handling, navigation, service, fleet, maintenance, insurance, and environmental costs;
- crew or pilot reward;
- penalties, passenger compensation, or abnormal maintenance when applicable.
Recovery and position
Use Recover when FlyHub marks an interrupted operation as recoverable. Read the recovery details before restarting it. A recovery can preserve the operation, while a cancellation or MAYDAY can close it with a different result. Normal, scheduled, and free flights generally move the aircraft to the operation’s destination after a valid completion. Some event and charter flows keep the stored position according to their activity rules. The position shown by FlyHub after settlement is authoritative; do not manually assume that every special operation behaves like a scheduled route.When the result does not match your expectation
Check in this order:- The final booking summary, rather than an early quote.
- The recognized passenger or cargo amount.
- The operational score and timing result.
- The aircraft condition, weight, and policy checks.
- The settlement breakdown in Finance or the economy record.
- Whether the market or a recurring charge changed after the first quote.