Every size and speciality
Airlines
The game is as interesting for an operator with one aircraft as for a global network, because the small operator meets problems the giants never do.
The ladder
| Size | Design target | What it feels like |
|---|---|---|
| Micro | 1 to 3 aircraft | Owner operated. One aircraft out of service means no service. |
| Small | 4 to 12 | A small hangar. Buys used and surplus aircraft. |
| Regional | 13 to 40 | Several bases and access to manufacturer finance. |
| National | 41 to 120 | International rights and a maintenance base. |
| Major | 121 to 300 | Bargaining power with manufacturers. |
| Mega | 300 or more | Can launch an aircraft programme with a launch order. |
Fleet sizes are design targets, tuned against each era, not historical claims. A leading carrier in 1950 had far fewer aircraft than one today.
The island lifeline
The smallest airline in the design is modelled on a real kind of operator. Isles of Scilly Skybus flies from Land's End, Newquay and Exeter to St Mary's. It operates the 19 seat Twin Otter after planning, in 2019, to retire its Islanders, and it is owned by the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company, which also runs the ferry from Penzance. One source describes it as the only airline serving St Mary's.
Sources: Isles of Scilly Skybus (Wikipedia) and ch-aviation. The prototype uses a placeholder operator on the same route in 1958, because the real operator of that period has not yet been confirmed.
Archetypes
Each kind of airline is a template that sets its finances, regulation and behaviour. An airline can change kind over time: a charter carrier can start scheduled service, or two independents can merge into one large group.
Global flag carrier
State backed, intercontinental, anchored by rights agreements. Prestige and politics shape its choices.
In the prototype: Pan American, BOAC, Air France, KLM (all figures estimated).
In the prototype
US trunk carrier
A grandfathered scheduled airline protected by the regulator through the regulated era.
In the prototype: TWA, plus a pooled stand-in for the domestic trunks.
In the prototype
Regional flag carrier and consortium
Smaller rights sets and dependence on pooling. Some airlines are owned by several states at once.
In the prototype: a simplified Scandinavian consortium carrier.
Partly built
US local service (feeder) carrier
Certificated to serve smaller markets, kept subsidised through the regulated period.
Planned
Intrastate carrier
Flies wholly within one state and sits outside federal fare and route control.
Planned
Supplemental (non scheduled) carrier
Charter and contract flying, with enforcement risk and thin margins.
Planned
UK independent
A private airline in a market where the state carriers resisted licences for charters and scheduled services.
In the prototype: a small independent with a licence that limits where it may fly, modelled loosely on Dan-Air, founded in 1953.
In the prototype
Charter and inclusive tour operator
Seat contracts with tour operators, seasonal swings and utilisation above all.
In the prototype: seasonal charter contracts with penalties for missed flights.
In the prototype
All cargo and freight
No cabin, directional imbalance, freighter conversions and night operations.
Planned
Mail and postal contract carrier
Revenue from air mail contracts, with strict schedule obligations.
Planned
Air ferry
Vehicle and freight bridges on short sectors, in competition with surface ferries.
Silver City Airways ran the first cross Channel air ferry in 1948.
Planned
Flying boat and seaplane operator
Water aerodromes, tide and sea state, and aircraft with no successors.
Planned
Helicopter airline
Heliport networks, small payloads and high cost per seat.
Planned
Island and lifeline airline
The sole or dominant link to a community. Weather, subsidy, fragility and a ferry rival decide the year.
Isles of Scilly Skybus flies from Land's End, Newquay and Exeter to St Mary's with the Twin Otter and is owned by the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company. The prototype models a placeholder operator on the same route in 1958.
In the prototype
Commuter and air taxi
Tiny operators on light twins with minimal overhead and a single point of failure.
Planned
Bush and polar operator
Floats, skis, gravel strips and no navigation aids.
Planned
Colonial and imperial network
Airlines tied to a metropole's overseas territories, reshaped by decolonisation.
Planned
Multinational consortium
Several states co-own one airline, with governance votes and hub politics.
Planned
State monopoly (planned economy)
Closed rights and central planning. AI controlled by default, with a hard mode for players.
Planned
Special rights cases
Cities and corridors where only certain airlines may fly, by treaty.
Planned
Parent group airline
An airline owned by a shipping line, railway, tour operator or manufacturer, with cross subsidy and shifting strategy.
Planned
Start up and low cost challenger
A cost base designed from scratch, point to point flying and a fight with incumbents.
Planned
Executive and business charter
Per flight pricing and no network.
Planned
Contract and military support carrier
Trooping, air bridges and evacuations, with surge revenue.
Planned
Leasing company
No routes. You buy aircraft, place them with airlines and carry the residual value risk.
Planned
Verified background for the independents: Silver City Airways ran the first cross Channel air ferry in 1948, and British United Airways formed in 1962 by absorbing Britavia and Silver City. Dan-Air began with cargo and charter flights in 1953 and added scheduled passenger service in the late 1960s. Britannia Airways began in 1961 as Euravia. US supplemental carriers flew from 1944 to 1978 and were charter only from 1964. See Data for the sources.