Frequently Asked Questions

Go to onair.company/Account/Register and complete the registration form, then check your email and click the confirmation link (check spam if it doesn't arrive). Once your email is verified, install OnAir Companion and activate your 7-day free trial from the app — no credit card required. If you don't receive the email within 24 hours, submit a support ticket.

First check your spam and junk folders. If the email cannot be located, use the email validation page to resend the confirmation link.

The best place to start is the OnAir Academy, the step-by-step volume of the player manual — it walks you through setting up the Companion, your first company, your first flight and the core game mechanics. If you prefer video, the OnAir YouTube channel has tutorial videos covering the basics. The Discord community is also a great place to ask questions and get tips from experienced players.

Download the app from /downloads/. No credit card is required — your 7-day free trial starts when you click the trial button inside the Companion app, not at registration. The app is available for Windows and Linux, or you can run it in your browser with the Web App. A macOS version is on the way.

Yes. Cumulus, Stratus and Thunder are separate worlds with their own economies, and you can create one personal company in each. Your pilot ranks belong to your account, so a new company starts with the ranks you have already earned.

OnAir provides a complimentary 7-day trial that lets you test all features without any restrictions. No subscription or payment is required upfront, and no credit card is needed. The trial starts when you click the trial button inside the Companion app — not when you create your account.

When the seven days conclude, you must subscribe to a paid plan to continue. Visit onair.company/pricing/ to choose a subscription or Freelance Pass option that fits your playstyle.

1. Log in at onair.company/Account/Manage and open the Redeem key tab.
2. Enter your key in the License key field and click Redeem key.
3. The key then appears in your Activated keys list.
4. Download OnAir Companion from /downloads/.
5. Launch the app, enter your credentials, and start playing.

Your SimMarket key can be found in your SimMarket account under Purchase History.

Cancellation is done in PayPal, at any time. It can't be done by phone or email.

From your OnAir account: log in, open My Account and click "Cancel online anytime". The link opens your automatic payments in PayPal, where you can cancel.

Directly in PayPal: Log in → Settings → Payments → Automatic payments → OnAir → Cancel.

Note: there are no refunds once a recurring charge has been processed for the current billing period. For issues, open a ticket at support.onair.company.

A pass unlocks 24 hours of freelance flying with no subscription: the full freelance dashboard, every charter type (passenger, cargo, medical and sightseeing), weekly scheduled routes, community tours, and the right to join any Virtual Airline. Passes are sold in packs of 10, 50 or 100.

No. Passes never expire. Buy a pack once and spend them only on the days you actually fly — a pass is consumed when you start a 24-hour session, not when you buy it.

It depends on how often you fly. A subscription gives unlimited access and unlocks the full Advanced Career — your own airline, staff, aircraft and finances — and works out cheaper from a few sessions a week. Passes suit occasional pilots who fly now and then and want to pay only for those days.

The Companion notices it during your session: you get a clear message, a “Check again” button and a link to renew, instead of actions failing without explanation.

The OnAir server keeps running whether you're in the sim or not: AI crews keep flying where your world allows AI flights (not on Thunder), and your factories keep producing. Aircraft don't lose condition while parked — only flight hours and in-flight events cause wear. After 7 days without logging in, your company is paused automatically: salaries and loan payments are skipped and your factories are archived until you log in again, which resumes it.

Cargo and passengers, perishable and fragile cargo, medical, dangerous goods, executive passengers, bus trips, sightseeing, rescue, undercover, races, fighter tours, glider flights, events and weekly regular routes, among others — see the mission list. Some need a company skill first, such as medical and dangerous goods. Short legs pay far more per mile: a 60 NM hop pays several times more per mile than a 2,000 NM trip.

Not your cash payout — that's fixed at dispatch, and a 100% score pays the same as a 40% one. With Realistic Sim Procedures on, your score unlocks XP bonuses (+5% above 95%, +10% above 98%, on top of procedure bonuses such as a soft or night landing) and scales your reputation gain, from nothing at 0% to double at 100%. Higher reputation in turn raises your freelance charter rates. See Flight Scoring.

Airframe and engines lose about 12% condition per 100 flight hours, faster below 80%, and the aircraft is grounded at 50% or below. A scheduled inspection, done at a Level 1 workshop, is due every 100 flight hours for single and multi-engine pistons, turboprops and helicopters, 400 h for jets and 600 h for heavy jets. The annual checkup is due once a year, needs a Level 2 workshop and is separate work: selecting it in the Companion also adds the periodic inspection to the quote. Neither one restores condition — that takes a repair. Details in the maintenance chapter.

Buy: 1.2× base price for a new aircraft (used ones sell at roughly market value), then a weekly ownership fee; it's yours until you sell it. Rent: a refundable security bond of 10× the hourly rate, then an hourly rate on flight time, plus a daily charge if you fly less than the daily minimum. Lease: choose a 4, 8, 12, 24, 36 or 48-week term, pay three weeks upfront, then a weekly rent of 1.2× the ownership fee (lower per week from 12 weeks); maintenance is yours. See Fleet & Aircraft.

There are two kinds. As a freelance pilot, the Regular Routes card on the Freelance Job page lets you apply for a weekly schedule of real-world airline flights from your first day: pick an airline and an aircraft type, accept a proposed schedule, and the airline supplies the aircraft and fuel while you climb its route ranks. Once you unlock Advanced Career, you can also create your own company Regular Routes, flown with your own aircraft and crew: you set the ticket and cargo prices and pay the operating costs, fuel included.

A new company starts in Onboarding (freelance) mode: you fly charters, airline routes, tours and Virtual Airline jobs on supplied aircraft, with no payroll, maintenance or fleet to manage. Advanced Career unlocks your own airline — buy or lease aircraft, hire staff, manage finances, build FBOs and factories. You unlock it when you choose, from Settings → Company Actions: the first unlock adds a one-time bonus matching your current cash plus starting equity, and later switches between Freelance and Advanced need seven days between changes.

Cumulus is the most relaxed: you choose Easy, Classic or Realistic difficulty and get extra helpers such as instant pilot and employee transport. Stratus is a step harder: companies are created as Realistic, but AI pilots can still fly for you. Thunder is hardcore — also Realistic, no AI pilots, every flight is flown by you in a connected simulator. Virtual Airlines are open to every player in all three worlds.

Yes. Virtual Airlines are open to every player: apply to one of your world's VAs from the Virtual Airline card, or create your own in Advanced Career with a 5-character code and at least 100,000 credits of starting equity from your cash. Members fly the VA's jobs, which dispatchers can assign to them, and use the aircraft and employees its managers allow. A company belongs to one VA at a time.

Yes. One subscription covers all supported simulators. Switch between MSFS 2024, MSFS 2020, X-Plane 12, X-Plane 11, Prepar3D and FSX freely — your company and progress carry across all of them.

Windows 11 64-bit, Intel Core i3 or equivalent, 1 GB graphics card, 8 GB RAM, 1600×900 resolution minimum and an internet connection, plus disk space for the app and the airport and cargo databases it downloads on first launch (a few hundred megabytes). The Companion also runs on Linux (.deb or AppImage) and in a browser as the Web App. Compatible with MSFS 2024 and 2020, X-Plane 12 and 11, Prepar3D v4 and later, and FSX (Steam Edition or boxed with SP2).

There is no penalty in the first 15 minutes after accepting. After that, cancelling costs part of the penalty in proportion to the time elapsed, and the full penalty once the job has expired (capped at 95% of its pay); a penalised decline also costs 0.1% reputation. Freelance charters never charge a penalty: at worst the contract simply expires. Mission rules

Some job types need a company skill. Passengers Licence unlocks passenger jobs (tours and freelance charters excepted), and Last-Minute Jobs, Medical Transport and Dangerous Goods each unlock their own missions. Until the skill is bought, those jobs show a padlock and cannot be accepted.

Going from level N to N+1 costs N × 1,000 XP, so level 9 to 10 takes 9,000 XP. Each level-up gives 2 skill points (plus 1 at company creation and 5 for creating a Virtual Airline), to spend on 22 skills in four branches: Finance, FBO, Missions and AI/Employees. Company skills

Yes. A reset gives back every point you have earned, and your company level is untouched. The first reset is free unless your company value is negative; later ones cost 1% of company value × the number of resets, capped at 5%. The app first asks you to pass the Aviation Quiz with at least 75%.

Reputation raises your freelance charter hourly rate, lowers your loan interest and increases how many pilots you can hire. A new company starts at 70%, 50% or 30% depending on difficulty (Easy, Classic, Realistic). With Realistic Sim Procedures on, a 100% flight score doubles the reputation you gain; declining a job with a penalty costs 0.1%.

At touchdown OnAir rates vertical speed, G-force and airspeed, each from A to E, and your landing grade is the worst of the three. An A needs under 200 fpm, under 1.1 G and less than 10 kts above reference speed; 400 fpm or more is a hard landing, which also adds wear to the aircraft. With Realistic Sim Procedures on, an A or B earns the soft-landing XP bonus. Flight scoring

Tours are themed multi-leg trips (volcanic islands, Alpine peaks, lighthouses) made by the OnAir team and the community. You fly the legs in any order at your own pace, with no late penalty, and you can run several tours at once. If a tour starts far away, a travel token teleports you and one aircraft to its departure.

An optional feature, off by default. During a flight with passengers, the cabin may report that a passenger is unwell, and the Companion suggests a nearby diversion airport. Pressing on carries no XP or money penalty, and a qualifying diversion earns a bonus of 25 to 75 XP. Turn it on in Settings → Flight Sim → In-Flight Emergencies.

No. The employer supplies the aircraft with 20–40% fuel, and refuelling at an outside supplier is not charged to you; there are no rental, landing or parking fees and no mandatory maintenance. You still have to load enough fuel for the flight.

In Advanced Career, each aircraft class needs its own rating. Pilots start with single-engine piston only and pass a short checkride for each further class; flights made in Freelance don't count. Start it from Fleet → Manage → Checkride.

You can install OnAir Companion on several computers. To track a flight, the Companion must be connected to your simulator — on the same PC, or on another PC of your local network with the remote simulator setup in Settings → Flight Sim. The web version can stay open in a browser while you fly on your PC: it does not take over your session.

Use the standard Windows uninstall process: Start → Settings → Apps, find OnAir Companion, and select Uninstall. On Linux, remove the package (.deb) or delete the AppImage file. Your account data is stored on OnAir's servers and is never affected by uninstalling the app — simply log in after reinstalling to access everything.

1. On the OnAir PC: open Settings → Flight Sim, choose X-Plane 12 (plugin) or X-Plane 12 Web API, then enter the X-Plane PC's host name or IP address in the remote field.
2. Plugin (X-Plane 11 and 12): install the plugin by hand on the X-Plane PC; the address reaches it through a text file, as the guide behind the question mark explains.
3. Web API (X-Plane 12.4.0+): use X-Plane's HTTP port (8086 by default) and, in X-Plane, untick Disable incoming under Settings → Network.

Then click the SIM pill in the title bar to connect. Full guide: Connect X-Plane.

The Web App manages your company from any browser but cannot connect to a simulator, so you fly with the desktop app. You can keep the browser open while you fly on your PC; refresh the page to see the latest state.

The in-game panel installs itself with the Companion. In the MSFS toolbar, look for the OnAir icon with a small dot: the plain OnAir icon belongs to the old client and won't connect. Restart MSFS once after the first install.

Basic steps: restart OnAir; restart your router/modem; flush your DNS; close background applications.

Advanced steps: update network card drivers; check firewall/port settings; remove any active VPN; disable proxies; run a malware scan; temporarily disable security software.

Still stuck? Contact support at support.onair.company or get quick help from the Discord community.

Common causes and fixes:

• Windows Controlled Folder Access blocking installation — check Windows Security → Virus & threat protection settings.
• Corrupted installation files — uninstall completely and reinstall.
• Missing Visual C++ Redistributable — install the latest x64 Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable from Microsoft's official site.

If none of these work, submit a support ticket with your Windows version and the error message.

Install the x64 Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015, 2017, and 2019 (vc_redist.x64.exe) from Microsoft's official site. If already installed, run a repair. On Windows 11 with FSX, also ensure .NET Framework 2.0 and 3.0 are enabled via Windows Features.

Keep flying. Your flight is written to your PC as you fly, so it isn't lost: the Companion tells you how many flights it is holding and until when each can still be registered, and you register them once the servers answer again. Even if you close the Companion, the flight is saved on disk and a Resume Tracking banner brings it back at the next launch; Settings → Recovery lists flights that were tracked but never registered.

Usually, yes. The Companion saves your flight on your PC as you fly, and Settings → Recovery lists flights tracked but never registered; one still open on the server offers Resume. If the servers are unreachable, the Companion tells you how many flights are held and until when each can still be registered.

OnAir Companion works with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 & 2020, X-Plane 12 & 11, Prepar3D v4 and later and FSX (Steam Edition or boxed with SP2). The app connects to your simulator in real time to track your flights, and you run your company from the same app.

In Settings → Flight Sim, enter your SimBrief username or Pilot ID, or link your Navigraph account. Then, in Flight Dispatch, the fuel panel's SimBrief block has two buttons: Dispatch opens SimBrief pre-filled with your route and contracted load, and the import button pulls your latest OFP's route, alternate and planned fuel. The route then appears on the dispatch map and the full OFP is readable in a tab during the flight; your payload always comes from your jobs, never from SimBrief.

Before tracking starts, the Sim Settings check must be green: no slew, no unlimited fuel, and crash detection on in worlds that use it. Turning on unlimited fuel or slew during the flight interrupts tracking until you fix it. In MSFS:

• Disable Unlimited Fuel: Escape → Assistance → Aircraft Systems → Unlimited Fuel → Off.
• Enable Crash Damage: Escape → Assistance → Failure & Damage → Crash Damage → On.

Where crash detection applies, a crash cancels the flight and the mission returns to pending; a crash reported after landing, below 40 kt or parked, no longer cancels it.

To pause: pause the simulator whenever you like — OnAir freezes the tracker and carries on exactly where it was when you unpause. You can also save and resume your flight in the simulator.

To resume after closing the apps or a crash: start the simulator first, then the Companion. A Resume Tracking banner on the Dashboard restores the flight; load the same aircraft, use Position in simulator to return to the last known position if needed, wait for the checks to turn green and click Resume Tracking.

At your destination, shut down the engines and click Register to get paid. A flight left unregistered is cancelled 48 hours after dispatch.

When you resume, the Position in simulator button on the tracking conditions panel puts your aircraft back at its last known position, and the Location check turns green a second later. On MSFS, Prepar3D and FSX this goes through slew mode: leave it with Shift+Z in MSFS 2024, or Y in MSFS 2020, Prepar3D and FSX. X-Plane is repositioned directly, with no slew involved.

OnAir uses simulator-reported data to identify aircraft. Misidentification usually means the aircraft developer didn't update their specifications (OEW, MTOW, or fuel tank data).

The recommended fix is to contact the aircraft developer and request correct values. You can also propose a correction via an in-game feature or a support ticket, providing the aircraft model and a documented source.

Not every airport in the OnAir database exists in every simulator's standard install. Solutions:

• Install the scenery add-on for that airport: OnAir flags every airport that isn't in a simulator's standard install.
• In Settings → Preferences, the company job rules can limit jobs by airport size and to airports native to your simulator or known to SimBrief.
• Where your world allows AI flights (not on Thunder), assign an AI pilot to jobs at airports you can't fly to.
• X-Plane 11 users: install the Prefab Airports pack to add ~25,000 airports.

Yes. Time warp is allowed and a flight in warp is never cancelled. On eligible flights, if the simulator clock gets more than 11 minutes ahead of real time, flight XP, reputation and wear apply at registration, but job pay and mission XP wait until real time catches up. Freelance and training flights are exempt.

Yes. You can prefile on VATSIM in one click from flight dispatch, show the online VATSIM controllers along your route (Settings → Flight Sim → Show online ATC on your route, off by default), and fly VATSIM Events charters built from the public VATSIM event calendar.

OnAir's maximum payload is the aircraft's total capacity minus half the fuel weight and the standard pilot (and copilot) weight. Short-range aircraft (under about 500 NM) can use only 60% of that maximum, rising to about 97% for longer-range aircraft. If a load is too heavy, use Split Load to take part of it now and the rest later.

Before a long break, use Pause Company in Settings → Company Actions: it suspends your company's operations, and its confirmation shows the fee and what stops. Don't close the company just to take a break. If you simply stop logging in, the company is paused automatically after 7 days: salaries, loan payments, FBO weekly fees and parking and cargo storage charges are skipped, and logging in again resumes it.

If your company was archived due to more than two months of inactivity, contact support with your new airline's 4-digit code — the team can transfer your original company's assets, aircraft values, and XP/level progression.

In Settings → Company Actions, Close Company deletes it. For 7 days, it can still be recovered through support. If you only need a break, use Pause Company in the same tab instead, and to change how you play, switch between Freelance and Advanced there.

OnAir has three worlds with increasing difficulty:

• Cumulus — most forgiving, recommended for new players, with higher payouts.
• Stratus — intermediate difficulty, AI pilots available, no payout multiplier.
• Thunder — highest difficulty, no AI pilots (every flight is flown by you in a connected simulator), no payout multiplier.

World migration is directional: Thunder → Stratus or Cumulus; Stratus → Cumulus only (no upgrading to a harder world).

You can transfer your company to another world from the settings in OnAir Companion.

Changing world:

• Thunder companies are allowed to migrate to Stratus or Cumulus.
• Stratus companies are allowed to migrate to Cumulus.

A transfer releases the airports you own, except basecamps. If a basecamp's location is already taken in the destination world, the transfer is refused until that basecamp is deleted.

The characteristics of each world:

• Cumulus is the recommended world for first-time CEOs: it features the most forgiving ruleset. It suits a relaxed, casual play style if you only have a few hours to invest in your company and want additional helper features, such as instant teleportation of your employees around the world.
• Stratus is the next step in difficulty. You can still use AI employees to fly planes even when you are away from the computer. Otherwise, all the aids are disabled, and there is no payout multiplier.
• Thunder is the final level: no aids, no payout multiplier and no AI pilots. Every flight your company performs must be completed by you in a connected simulator, so there are no rental daily minimum flight hours.

Economy rulesets: Stratus and Thunder companies start in the Challenging economy ruleset and can switch to Classic. Cumulus companies are in Classic. This is separate from the difficulty level: Easy, Classic or Realistic on Cumulus, while Stratus and Thunder companies are always Realistic. Your current economy ruleset is shown in your company settings. Switching to Classic cannot be undone, and it removes your company's leaderboard entries. The differences are:

• Fleet management costs only apply in the Challenging economy ruleset. When you own or rent more than 5 aircraft, an additional cost is charged weekly, depending on the number and types of aircraft in the fleet. For VAs, this cost applies to the VA itself, not to members who have access to VA aircraft. It represents the extra background staff needed to manage a fleet, such as ground crew, weather handling and accountants.
• Weekly FBO management costs only apply in the Challenging economy ruleset. When you own more than 3 FBOs, an additional weekly fee is charged, based on the total number and class of your FBOs. It represents the staff working in the background to manage the FBOs, such as ground crew, accountants and office staff.
• Job pay is higher in the Classic economy ruleset; the difference depends on the leg length and the load. Freelance jobs are not affected.
• The cap on hired pilots only exists in the Challenging economy ruleset.

More details about the worlds are available in the manual.

Airport size (0 to 5) is based on the length of the longest runway. Exceptions: airports whose runways are all grass, dirt or another soft surface are capped at size 2, all-water airports at size 1, and a handful of iconic airports are set by hand. To keep small airports out of your jobs, use the airport size rule among the company job rules in Settings → Preferences.

Sightseeing jobs require landing back at the departure airport, so they earn no distance-based flight XP or reputation. Instead, they provide a fixed XP and reputation bonus viewable in the pending jobs list before the mission, or in the completed jobs list afterward.

Bring fuel to it in a fuel container: buy one at any FBO that sells your fuel type, choosing the number of gallons, carry it to the aircraft's airport as cargo, then refuel straight from the container — this works at any airport, even one without an FBO.

To find fuel nearby, open Airport Network → Find FBO, enter the airport and a range, and filter by 100LL or JET to see prices, stock and distance. A container left on the ground pays the cargo storage fee after 3 hours, unless it fits in your own FBO there.

Your company has a UTC offset, shown under Company details on the Dashboard. When simulator time is enforced, the tracker's Date check expects your simulator clock to match it; tick that row's Auto-set box and the Companion sets the simulator time for you. On Cumulus, Settings → Flight Sim also offers Don't force time in sim, so you can fly at whatever time you set in the simulator.

The server runs on UTC. Every day, loans are checked at 04:45, salaries at 05:00, and aircraft ownership and parking fees are charged at 05:15; the weekly FBO fee is charged on Mondays at 04:45. Keep enough cash at 04:45 UTC to cover all three. Server clock

After 7 days without a login, your company is paused automatically (Virtual Airlines excepted). While paused, salaries, loan payments and the weekly FBO fee are skipped, parking and cargo storage are free, and your FBOs are hidden from other players. Logging back in resumes the company.

Employees are paid every 7 days: the higher of their guaranteed weekly salary or their hourly rate × hours flown, so the guarantee is due even when they don't fly. Freelancers get the higher of 3 hours' wages or hours flown × rate, and can't be fired: their contract runs to its end.

Borrowing requires the Bank Loans Agreement skill. Loans run for 48, 96, 144 or 192 weeks and are repaid automatically every 7 days; repaying early costs 10% of the remaining principal. How much you can borrow, and at what rate, depends on your company value, reputation and difficulty level.

Other players pay you only for the fuel you resell (Fuel Resale skill) and for workshop services (Workshop Resale skill); parking and cargo storage fees don't go to you. For your own company, an FBO means refuelling at the dealer price, free parking and cargo storage within its capacity, and logistic queries that generate jobs. It carries a weekly ownership fee. FBO & Hangar

Missing fuel is charged at twice the local maximum fuel price per gallon. Returning it to the wrong airport costs the round-trip rent, fuel and pilot, plus 10% paperwork. Rentals also require a daily minimum of flight hours (any shortfall is charged daily) and end automatically after 7 days without a registered flight.

Two channels are available:

• Official support at support.onair.company — handled by the development team Monday–Friday (excluding public holidays), typical response within 2 business days.
• Discord community at discord.com/invite/WY5htXu — thousands of experienced players for quick advice; community helpers can escalate to the developers when needed.

Scheduled maintenance occurs approximately twice monthly, typically on Wednesdays at 7:30 UTC, lasting 30–60 minutes. Players receive advance notice through the client lobby one hour before.

Emergency maintenance may occur at any time and is announced via Discord and the OnAir app. During any maintenance, active flights can continue — just wait for the server to come back online before registering the flight.

Yes. All your OnAir data — your company, crew, aircraft, and flights — lives on OnAir's servers, not inside the app. Reinstalling, updating, or switching computers never affects your account. Simply log in after reinstalling to access everything.