Run a 747 airline
A big aircraft needs a market to match. This strategy game puts you at the airline planning desk: sell enough seats to cover your costs without pricing your passengers away.
01 / Airline boardroom
Six months. One jumbo. Your decisions.
Choose your market, set your fares and keep your airline in the black through a six-month season.
All demand, capacity and cost figures are fictional game assumptions in game dollars. Era names provide flavour; these are not historical prices or a business forecast.
Month 1 / 6
Opening month
A normal month. Find a sustainable fare.
Cash balance
$1,500,000
Forecast includes this month’s announced event. Changing era is available before your first flight.
Finish month six with more than $1,500,000 to win. Running out of cash ends the game.
| Month | Passengers | Revenue | Costs | Profit |
|---|
Open the game’s books
Monthly passenger demand is era demand × route demand × event demand × (reference fare × cabin premium ÷ your fare)1.25 × 12. Sales are limited by seats × flights. More departures share the same market.
Revenue is passengers × fare. Costs are hourly operating costs × hours × flights, fuel cost × hours × flights × event factor, $28 per passenger and $120,000 monthly overhead. Aircraft purchase, financing, positioning and real crew scheduling are excluded.
| Era | Base seats | Demand | Operating/hour | Fuel/hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s · launch age | 360 | 310 | 6200 | 1800 |
| 1990s · global network | 410 | 365 | 5400 | 1500 |
| 2010s · changing skies | 450 | 380 | 5100 | 2100 |
Atlantic: demand ×1, reference fare $420. Pacific: ×0.9, $680. Regional: ×1.2, $230. Economy uses 100% of seats and a ×1 fare reference; balanced uses 82% and ×1.3; premium uses 62% and ×1.8.
Your objective
Start with $1.5 million in game cash and operate for six months. Finish above your starting balance to win; run out of money and the season ends. Each month announces its market event before you commit. You can change route, cabin, fare and frequency between rounds; your chosen era stays fixed after your first month.
A useful trade-off
More flights offer more seats, but they do not create unlimited demand. A higher fare earns more per passenger while reducing the number willing to buy. A spacious premium cabin earns its higher fares only if there is a market for it. The forecast and ledger let you test these relationships.
All figures are invented and intentionally transparent. They are not inflation-adjusted historical results or financial advice. The game omits aircraft financing, taxes, fleet rotations and many real costs.
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