Operations and disruption

Punctuality

A flight is on time when it leaves within 15 minutes. Well-run airlines manage 76–82%; without a Director of Operations it is about half. Late flights cost compensation, reputation and reviews.

What makes flights late

• The inbound aircraft: a late arrival plus the minimum turn (35 minutes for a narrowbody, 55 for a widebody) knocks on through the day.
• The crew: crew from a late inbound flight need 30 minutes to connect.
• Ground and air traffic delays, worst at full slot airports in the busy hours.
• Weather: storms, fog and snow, forecast on Ops control.
• Technical faults: worse on worn aircraft without mechanics.
• Curfews: some airports close at night; nothing leaves or lands in them.

More than 12 hours late, a flight is cancelled.

Recovery

The engine fights disruption for you: it swaps in a spare aircraft of the same family, calls reserve crew or positions crew from elsewhere, ferries aircraft back into place, and holds flights for connecting passengers within your limit. On Ops control you can take any of these calls yourself; the game then asks you before the flight and slows down while you decide.

Slack is your friend: a spare aircraft, a few reserve crew and timetables that are not tight to the minute turn cancellations into short delays.

Ground handling

At each station you can do your own handling with ground agents: at four agents per daily departure, handling fees there are 30% lower and ground delays 15% lower. It pays at busy, expensive airports and barely at cheap ones. The Director of Operations sizes it every Monday if you leave it to them.

Safety

Your safety score (70 is typical) comes from fleet condition and overdue checks, crew skill and training, fatigue, and the safety department you fund. A low score makes incidents likelier and raises insurance and costs reputation; a serious incident takes an aircraft out for weeks. The Safety page shows the score, every airline's record, and the policies: training, how faults are deferred, a stricter fatigue limit.