Interesting, could benefit from a few tweaks
The game/simulation is reasonably detailed, but I think a few small changes could make it better:
1. There should be a straightforward way of adding and removing planes (or at least substituting a new plane) on a route, even if accompanied by a small fee. Having to close and reopen it doesn’t seem realistic.
2. The “labor actions” are rather arbitrary and very frequent, much more so than in real life. There should at least be a concrete demand that the player might decide to negotiate or even just meet.
3. Crew training should be capable of being spread out. It is not realistic for half the crews to suddenly be out on training.
4. It should be possible to move crews from available to reserve, reducing ongoing cost, but of course incurring cost to reactivate.
5. Crew salaries should be adjustable by the player (as part of #2-#4). Some crew might do a labor action or just quit if pay isn’t competitive.
6. There should be an even faster 125x (perhaps sans animation), but the simulation should automatically drop to 1x from anything higher when critical alerts pop up.
7. An adjustable budget for prevetative maintenance ought to affect aircraft readiness (groundings).
Larger changes to improve realism:
1. It would be cool if planes were scheduled point to point, with multiple points possible, rather than just dedicated back-and-forth on a route. Each plane having a daily schedule would suffice, and this would of course affect crew availability, resting, etc. at each served airport. The totality of these would determine possible ticketable through-connections.
2. It would make hubs and larger route structures more realistic if demand (and pricing?) were calculated endpoint-to endpoint, assuming a bump for non-stop, and falling way off for out of the way connections (like IAD->ATL->LGA, for example), rather than using a universal hub demand bonus.
Response from developer
Thank you. This is one of the most thoughtful reviews we've received, and it's clear you know the domain. A few of these we've already acted on, so let me go point by point. Already possible (#1, swap a plane on a route): You can do this today without closing the route. It just isn't obvious, which is on us. In the Fleet tab, tap an aircraft, then "Assign to New Route" to move it (including one that's mid-flight, which finishes its current leg first), or "Park (Close Route)" to free it up as a spare. There's also a replace-in-place option when you sell a routed aircraft. It does charge a small route fee, as you'd expect. We'll make this easier to find in a coming update. Fixed for the next update (#2 and #3): You're right that labor actions were too frequent and that training pulled too many crews at once. We've already cut labor-action frequency substantially, so they're now a rare, notable event rather than routine, and we've roughly halved how much of a crew family is sidelined by training at any one time. Both land in an upcoming release. On the roadmap (#4, #5, #7): Adjustable crew reserve status, player-set crew salaries with the risk that underpaid crews act up or quit, and a proper "concrete demand you can negotiate or meet" for labor actions (your #2) all fit together as one connected crew-economics feature, and it's on our list. An adjustable preventive-maintenance budget affecting groundings (#7) fits cleanly alongside it. #6 (125x plus auto-slow on alerts): We especially like the idea of the sim automatically dropping to 1x when a critical decision appears. It fits how the game already works: it never pauses, but it shouldn't let you fast-forward past a real choice. Both the faster speed and the auto-slow are things we want to add. The bigger ideas (point-to-point scheduling and endpoint-to-endpoint demand): These are genuinely where a deeper version of the game would go, and you've described them exactly right. They're much larger changes to the core route and demand model, so no promises on timing, but they're the kind of realism we'd love to build toward, and we've written them down. Thanks again for taking the time. Feedback this specific genuinely shapes what we build.
This game has taught me so much
Response from developer
Thank you so much - this made my day! Hearing that the game taught you real things about how airlines actually work is exactly what we hoped for when we started building it. There's a lot of industry detail packed in there, and we love that it's landing. Thanks for playing, and for taking the time to write this.
Fun Little Game
Response from developer
Thanks for taking the time to write this out, genuinely. The fact that you called the concept engaging means a lot, and I'd much rather hear the sharp version than nothing at all. A few things, because you raised real points: On the planes — good news on one: the A350-900 is already in the game (widebody, in the marketplace). You're right that the A350-1000 isn't in yet, but those are fair requests and exactly the kind of current, in-service metal we like to add, so that on the 8i are on the list. To be fair, the 747-8i only sold 47 tails. That's why we modeled the -400 that airlines actually flew, but I hear you that the "legendary" jets are part of the fun even thought I wouldn't say the 8i is remotely legendary like the -400. On earning while you're away: this one's a deliberate design choice, not a bug: Airline Architect isn't an idle game, so the world pauses when you're not in it. But here's the thing that fixes your actual complaint: you don't have to sit and watch. Bump the sim speed to 25× and a couple of real minutes becomes many in-game days of flying and earning. Open a good network, set it to 25×, check back in a few minutes. That's the intended way to make real progress without babysitting the screen. On the heat: that's the live world map redrawing continuously, and it works your phone harder at the highest speed. Two things: at normal speeds it runs much cooler, and I'm going to look at easing how hard the map redraws when you're running fast. That's a fair optimization. Appreciate you flagging it. "Unplayable" seems unfair, but the underlying notes are useful, and a couple of them are going straight onto the roadmap. Give the 25× tip a try and let me know if it changes the experience.
I like it
Response from developer
Thanks so much for the thoughtful review. I'm really glad you're enjoying digging into all the route and aircraft numbers! You’re absolutely right about moving aircraft between routes. We’ve heard that feedback, and version 1.1.5, shipping today, makes it much easier to reassign aircraft to a different route — including situations like your Mexico City route. We also appreciate the feedback on Premium and pricing. Airline Architect is still very new, and feedback like this is incredibly helpful as we keep improving and expanding the game. Thanks for being an early player and sticking with us. Lots more to come!
Such a fun game!
Response from developer
Thank you — this really made my day. “Easy to learn but deep” is exactly what I was going for, so I’m thrilled it landed that way. There’s even more to dig into as your airline grows — crew, disruptions, acquisitions — so I hope it keeps surprising you. Thanks for flying with us! ✈️
Have to pay to use
Response from developer
Thanks for giving it a shot. I really appreciate the kind words on the gameplay. Quick correction: it's $5.99/month or $49.99/year (about $4/month), not $10/$40, and it isn't a paywall on a paid game. The whole core loop is free; you can build and run a real airline up to 5 routes without paying a cent. The subscription just lifts the cap so you can grow bigger. On buying money to progress faster: I chose not to do that on purpose. I didn't want a game where whoever spends the most wins, which is exactly how a lot of the "free" airline games work. This is a deep simulation with a real economy, live competitors, and saved careers. That takes ongoing work to build and keep running, and the subscription is what funds that instead of selling shortcuts. Free alternatives exist and no hard feelings if one fits better, but they're usually a different kind of game. If you stick around, I'd love to hear what would make it worth it for you.
Super fun and engaging
Great game!
Response from developer
Thank you — “building a company from the ground up” is the whole idea behind the game, so it means a lot that it came through. Those early route and aircraft calls really do compound as you scale, and it’s great to hear you’re feeling the weight of them. Appreciate you playing!