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Manage Airline: Programs

Programs are operating contracts the airline pays for every day. In return, every flight settled while a contract runs earns more or costs less. Programs are also the only way to raise the airline’s reputation ceiling above 7. The page also shows what is limiting the airline today, how long the cash lasts, and how much standby pricing is saving.

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Open Programs

  1. Open an active airline from Airlines.
  2. Open its profile and select Manage airline.
  3. Select Programs.
Programs follows Finance access. Owners, Managers, and Finance staff normally see it. You need finance permission to contract or end a program.

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Sustainability

The top of the page answers whether the airline can carry its commitments. The limit is checked in this order, and the first one that applies is shown: The same strip appears on the management Overview.

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Program branches

The roadmap has six branches. Each level needs the level below it, and higher levels also need real flying behind them.

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Cabin & catering

What passengers feel on board.

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Crew

Training and standards. Fewer passenger compensations.

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Maintenance

Reliability over time.

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Ground operations

Your own handling at network stations.

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Commercial

Marketing campaigns that lift how the market sees the airline. Campaigns run for 30 days only.

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Fuel & risk

Negotiated supply. Fuel is the biggest cost line. Every catering, crew, maintenance, and ground level also raises the reputation ceiling. See Reputation ceiling.

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Roadmap states

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Contract a program

  1. Select an available level on the roadmap.
  2. Review What it does and Requirements.
  3. Choose a contract length of 30, 60, or 90 days. Longer contracts are discounted 4% for 60 days and 8% for 90 days.
  4. Review the price per day, the setup fee, the total over the term, and the estimated value per month.
  5. Select Contract and pay.
The setup fee is paid when you sign. The daily fee is charged with the airline’s other fixed costs. A contract starts after a short lead time of one to four days, shown in the dialog. The dialog estimates whether the program pays for itself at the airline’s current flying. If the fee outweighs the direct return, it says so. Programs that raise the reputation ceiling can still be worth it for the long term.

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Prices

Prices scale with the size of the operation and move weekly with the supplier index. The dialog shows whether this week’s index is high, low, or at par. Signing when the index is low locks the lower price for the whole term.

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Renew, upgrade, or end a contract

  • Renew: opens 14 days before a contract ends. The renewal starts the day after the current contract and has no setup fee.
  • Upgrade: contracting the next level replaces the running contract after the new level’s lead time.
  • End: ends the contract tonight. Fees already paid are not refunded.
When a contract lapses, its effects stop the same day. The airline keeps the level for 14 days, so it can still contract the next level or renew without starting the ladder again.

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Effects

Effects apply to every flight settled while the contract runs. From one branch only the highest active level counts. Effects from different branches stack.
  • Cabin revenue raises passenger revenue on each flight.
  • Compensations, repairs, airframe, handling, landing, and fuel effects lower those costs in the flight settlement.
  • Perceived reputation is added to the reputation the market uses for demand and fares. It does not change the airline’s real reputation score.

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Reputation ceiling

Airline reputation can rise only up to its ceiling. The base ceiling is 7 out of 10. Catering, crew training, maintenance, and ground handling levels raise the ceiling while they are active, up to 10. Reaching the top of the reputation scale needs both a strong operating record and investment in programs.

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Standby pricing

Routes, stations, and aircraft with no settled flight in 14 days are charged a fraction of their daily cost until the next flight. Nothing needs to be configured. The page shows how many schedules, stations, and aircraft are in standby and how much that saves per day. Full charges return with the next flight.

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Empire value

Empire value measures what the airline has built, not what sits in the bank. It adds up the fleet, the network, reputation weighted by pilots, and active programs. Use it to follow long-term progress when cash is being reinvested.

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In Finance

Program fees appear in Finance as an Operating programs fixed cost per day, and in the ledger as their own entries.