Ranks and awards
The nine ranks, what each one pays and unlocks, and the achievements you collect along the way.
Ranks and awards
Two different things, and it helps to keep them apart.
Rank is one number climbing: hours. It decides your hourly pay and which aircraft you may take. You cannot choose it and you cannot skip it.
Hours here means your logbook plus any hours transferred in when you joined — this airline counts both. Your profile lists them separately so you can see where the total comes from.
Awards are everything else. They mark what kind of flying you do — nights, long sectors, smooth landings, loyalty — and you collect them in any order you like.
The ladder
Menu → Company → Ranks. Your own position is at the top of that page, with the hours to the next step.
| Rank | From | Hourly pay |
|---|---|---|
| Cadet | 0 h | $90/h |
| Second Officer | 10 h | $110/h |
| First Officer | 70 h | $130/h |
| Senior First Officer | 420 h | $155/h |
| Captain | 880 h | $185/h |
| Senior Captain | 1,250 h | $210/h |
| Line Training Captain | 2,450 h | $230/h |
| Fleet Captain | 2,600 h | $245/h |
| Chief Pilot | 3,000 h | $260/h |
Promotion is automatic. Nobody has to approve it and there is nothing to apply for.
These rates were raised across the board in August 2026. The old ladder started at $10 an hour, which meant a new pilot needed months of flying before a $40,000 type rating was even imaginable, and the annual check that keeps it alive was out of reach on top of that. Training you cannot afford is the same as training that does not exist.
ACARS and reports filed by hand
Both are paid at the same rate. Until August 2026 a hand-typed report paid half, and that is no longer the case.
ACARS is still worth using, and not out of duty: it records the landing rate, the route actually flown and the fuel burned. Your flight score, your reputation and several awards are calculated from exactly those numbers, and a report without them simply has nothing to score.
Which aircraft a rank opens
The first ranks open only part of the fleet, and the list widens as you climb. Each rank card on the Ranks page has a Which aircraft link that opens the exact list for that step — read it there rather than here, because the fleet changes and this page would go stale.
Rank opens an aircraft. It does not rate you on it. You also need a type rating from the Academy — the two are separate gates and both have to be open. What you hold and when it expires is on your profile; see Licences.
Awards
Menu → Company → Awards. Twenty-one of them, in six groups. They appear on your profile the moment you qualify.
How much you have flown
| Award | For |
|---|---|
| First 10 Flights | 10 flights |
| 50 Flights | 50 flights |
| 200 Flights | 200 flights |
| 500 Flights | 500 flights |
| 10,000 Miles | 10,000 nm total |
| Round the World | 21,600 nm — once around the planet |
| 100,000 Miles | 100,000 nm total |
What kind of flying you do
| Award | For |
|---|---|
| Long Haul | 10 sectors over 3,000 nm |
| Long Haul II | 50 sectors over 3,000 nm |
| Regional Workhorse | 50 sectors under 500 nm |
| Night Owl | 10 night landings |
| Early Bird | 10 early-morning departures |
| Weekend Crew | 20 weekend flights |
How well you fly
| Award | For |
|---|---|
| Greaser | landings between −80 and −200 fpm |
| Consistent | an average score of 85 |
| Clean Sheet | 10 flights in a row with no penalty |
| Seven Days | flying seven days running |
| Heavy Burn | 60,000 kg of fuel burned |
What you have flown and how long you have been here
| Award | For |
|---|---|
| Type Collector | 5 different aircraft types |
| Type Collector II | 10 different aircraft types |
| One Year In | 365 days as a pilot here |
The first step of every group is deliberately close. An award you can only reach in six months does not motivate a new pilot — it tells him the place is not for him.
Ranks, awards and the Academy
Three separate systems, and they do not substitute for each other:
- Rank comes from hours. Nothing else moves it.
- Awards come from the kind of flying, not the amount.
- Type ratings come from the Academy and cost money.
- Reputation comes from how you fly contracts — see Reputation.
A pilot with 3,000 hours and no type rating still cannot fly a 777F. A pilot with every type rating and 40 hours is still a Second Officer.
