Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024’s Career Mode introduces a structured experience beyond Free Flight. It simulates your journey from beginner to professional pilot, blending realistic flight simulation with RPG-style progression. You’ll manage finances, certifications, maintenance, aircraft ownership, and reputation as you climb the ranks.

But be warned—Career Mode is still frustratingly buggy.

You’ll fail missions through no fault of your own.
You’ll lose points due to common glitches.
You’ll find missions that can’t be completed because they get stuck.
Sometimes, the game will crash your plane before you even get in.
Other times, your aircraft will explode while you taxi gently to the runway.

This is the current state of Career Mode. It’s improving, slowly. And once you reach the Acceptance stage of grief, it’s actually pretty fun.

Overview of Career Mode

You begin as an employee pilot, flying company-owned aircraft and earning experience and a small amount of Credits (the game currency) through various missions. As you progress, you unlock Freelancer Mode, allowing you to buy your own aircraft and manage costs like fuel, maintenance, and insurance. Your aircraft persist across missions, carrying forward fuel levels, wear, and damage.

Employee vs. Freelancer Modes

Employee Mode
You start here, and you can return to it at any time. It carries no financial risk. You fly company-provided aircraft, and expenses like fuel, maintenance, and insurance are covered. Payouts are much lower, but it’s a good way to test unfamiliar missions and aircraft later on.
Freelancer Mode
Once you’ve gained enough experience and credits, you can enter Freelancer Mode. You’ll buy companies and aircraft, taking full financial responsibility for fuel, maintenance, and insurance. In return, you earn higher payouts but also face greater risk.

Progression

The different dimensions for Progression are:

Levels
You gain XP by completing missions. As you level up (well into the hundreds, possibly unlimited), you unlock new specializations.
Certifications
Some aircraft and mission types require certifications, such as a Commercial Pilot License (CPL). You pay to take the exam, but once paid, you can retake it as often as needed. Most are currently easy to pass.
Specializations
Missions fall into categories such as Cargo Transport - Light, Charter Service - Private, Passenger - Airliner, Medevac, Search & Rescue, Firefighting, Agricultural Aviation, and more. Each has prerequisites like level, certifications, and prior jobs completed.
Companies
Buying a company grants access to specific aircraft and mission types. You must meet specialization requirements and have enough funds for both the company and at least one aircraft. However, you can buy the company first and purchase an aircraft later.
Aircraft Ownership
Owning aircraft is essential in Freelancer Mode. You’ll typically start with a Cessna 172 (or similar GA aircraft) and gradually move up to turboprops, business jets and airliners like the PC-12, PC-24, CJ4, and Boeing 737. Ownership includes costs for purchase, fuel, maintenance, and insurance. Always keep a backup aircraft and enough credits on hand for maintenance. Don’t sell your only plane to afford the next one—bugs, errors, or bad luck could leave you stranded.

Career Mode adds structure and strategy to the simulation, encouraging you to explore different missions, aircraft, and global locations for a deeper experience.

Getting Started in MSFS 2024 Career Mode

You begin in Employee Mode, flying aircraft owned by various companies. This mode allows you to build experience and funds without financial risk, as the owning companies cover all costs such as fuel, insurance, and maintenance. You start with 5000 Credits of in-game money. Choose a Home airport on the map, then complete a short introductory flight to get started.

Jump into the Certification sub-menu and work your way through the Private Pilots License training sessions or jump ahead and try to Pass the exam. It will cost 2000 Credits to unlock the exam, and just requires you to fly a basic traffic pattern and land; you can retake it repeatedly so don’t worry about failing.

Once you pass, go into Missions and jump into your first mission, which will be the First Flight “Golden Mission” at your Home airport. Golden Missions are special missions with a golden, or yellow, icon that you have to complete to unlock new Specializations you have qualified for.

Once that mission is completed you will hopefully see a bunch of First Flight missions nearby and you’ll need to fly at least 1 of those. As soon as you qualify, go get your Commercial Pilots License (2500 Credits and requires 2 First Flight missions to have been completed; again, it just has you fly a simple pattern and land). Once you complete that you can start getting paid.

Once you hit Level 3 that will unlock the Ferry Flight specialization. The Ferry Flight Golden Mission will show up in Germany, complete that and you will unlock the Ferry Flight missions on your map. Once you are Level 5 you will qualify to unlock the Flightseeing specialization, and then fly the Golden Mission out of Venice, Italy. And then at Level 8 you can open up Skydive Aviation.

From there, keep an eye on the Cargo Transport - Light specialization and work towards that and save up about 36,000 credits. You’ll need to be Level 10 and complete 5 airplane missions with a landing smoothness of 50% or better and also some number of missions with a rating of C or better.

Once you’ve gained enough experience and sufficient credits, you can transition into Freelancer Mode, where you purchase your own aircraft, assume operating costs, and earn significantly higher payouts.

Freelancer Recommendations

While you're free to explore any missions and progress at your own pace, the following approach can accelerate your career and avoid some common pitfalls. I recommend you avoid getting any additional certifications or anything until you get into your first Cargo Transport airplane because those missions will make money so much faster. Once you do that then expand. Drive your certifications by which Specializations you want to get.

Choose Your First Company Wisely

To buy a company you must have enough Credits to pay for the Company and the first aircraft within that company. However, once you buy the company you can skip buying any aircraft, if you wish. To unlock new companies you need to qualify for one of the Specializations within that company.

Avoid starting with Flightseeing despite its tempting lower initial cost. Instead, I recommend starting with the Cargo Transport company and the Cargo Transport - Light specialization. This path offers stable income and clear progression. You'll need at least 25,950 credits for your first Cessna 172 and 10,000 credits to purchase the Cargo Transport company.

NOTE: You cannot buy the company until you can also afford the cheapest available aircraft in that company. You need to clear the red marker on “Aircraft available for purchase”.

You may get a misleading error about needing to complete a specialization but so long as you have 1 Specialization unlocked (shown green above) that would not be the true issue:

IMPORTANT: Only your very first aircraft comes at a steep discount and, while it can be resold for a tidy profit, do not fall for this trap. You won’t earn enough from the sale to buy a replacement (which will not be discounted), and you’ll be stuck grinding many Employee missions to make up the difference (or restarting).

You also want to make sure to check the departure and arrival runway type (grass, dirt, pavement, or water) and that the lengths are sufficient for your skill level in that plane. The game will try to send your wheeled aircraft into the water or on to RC plane fake runways. As the pilot-in-command you have to take responsibility for the flight, and that includes not running out of fuel (the game will have a suggested minimum amount but it is often not sufficient). You can, at larger airports, use SimBrief (free online tool) to assist in route and fuel planning. However, a lot of the smaller early airports won’t exist in that tool.

Recommended Core Companies and Planes

One option is to go with reliable, affordable aircraft in a proven progression:

Cargo Transport - Light, Cessna 172
Charter Service - Private, Vision Jet G2
Cargo Transport - Medium, Cessna 208B Grand Caravan OR save for PC-12
Charter Service - VIP, PC-12 or PC-24 (Premium-only) or CJ4

After securing a solid fleet and income stream, feel free to explore other company types and specializations. Make sure you place newly purchased planes near a good source of missions. Some specializations like Charter Service - Private have limited availability.

If you want the potential for faster progression, it has been suggested that going straight to Charter Service - Private with your first Cessna 172 is the way to go. This does mean more grinding in Employee missions and working to unlock that specific speciality. But that will leapfrog you into 200k missions, just make sure you stay near a source of missions and have funds to move the plane when needed. For that reason, and you will be missing out on a whole section of gameplay, I would not recommend this approach for newer pilots.

Once you qualify for a new Specialization it will unlock a special Golden Mission that you need to locate in Employee Mode and complete successfully – that special Golden Mission will then unlock the Specialization for you. To then also see that new mission type in Freelancer Mode you will also need to own an appropriate aircraft.

Unlock the Specialization by meeting the prerequisites
Find the Golden Mission in Employee Mode and complete that
CAUTION: If the game crashes or fails in some way the Golden Mission icon might disappear from your map, find the originating airport code from the list below and then go to the “Mission List” option on that airport (zoom in until you see the airport icon on the map and then click on the airport icon to bring up the menu). If you don’t see the Golden Mission there you may need to create a https://flightsimulator.zendesk.com/ ticket and wait for support.
Own that type of company and a valid aircraft that can fly that mission type in that company

Golden Missions will have the associated company icon on them, not to be confused with the Special Missions which have the Star icon and are more Yellow.

Essential Early Tips

Consider disabling Photogrammetry (under Settings > General > Online), especially if you see a lot of very bad looking terrain where you are trying to depart or arrive. If you don’t it can cause the plane to crash during ground operation.
Keep Your Starter Plane: Don’t sell it to buy another aircraft early on. You could end up grounded without the funds to recover.
Use the Visual Assistances (General > Assistances) to help guide you where to taxi and fly early on. Use Piloting Assistances (General > Assistances) like Auto-Rudder or the Helicopter Assistances if needed. Use Automixture and Gyro Drift Compensation until you are ready to take control of your fuel/air mixture and recalibrate the heading indication mid-flight.
Maintain a Financial Buffer: Always keep extra credits on hand for unexpected repairs or game-breaking bugs.
Buy Top-Tier Insurance: While expensive upfront, it protects you from financial losses due to bugs or mission failures. You only pay for flight hours you personally fly—the insurance doesn’t apply when your crew flies or the aircraft is idle. Once you have multiple aircraft or enough capital to self-insure, this becomes optional. You also get a 25% discount if you maintain S-tier and 20% for A-tier reputation.
Use Fast Travel Wisely: Zoom into airports on the world map and click the appearing circle icon to fast travel. This opens new job markets but costs credits based on distance, so use it strategically.

By following these guidelines, you’ll build a strong foundation for a smooth and profitable progression.

Spreadsheet of Airplane & Career related Information including costs of planes in each specialization and earning ranges (roughly) of different specializations:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_ZZLyWEZVdnoA1Ql9bufOUeT3Y8fkfGayRG0cGIYdSM/edit?usp=sharing

Other Specializations?

Once you get established in Cargo Transport - Light you’ll have enough money to earn more certifications and try other specializations, I’ve only outlined what is a fairly efficient path forward.

Should You Reset Career Mode?

I think it is rarely worth resetting Career mode, you would have to retake the certifications and everything. You’d have to balance how long it will take to get back to where you are now or get another airplane (maybe you, or the game, crashed your only plane, etc). You would have to be very early on I think.

What I would probably do is look at progressing into a more valuable Specialization like Cargo Transport - Medium (level 25) or Charter Service - VIP (level 45) as quickly as possible and then do those missions to get back into a used Cessna 172 at somewhere around 250k or 350k (so maybe 5 or 7 of those missions).

Specializations & Certifications

Specializations and Certifications form the core of your progression in MSFS 2024 Career Mode. Specializations unlock different mission types, each with unique requirements tied to experience and credentials. To qualify, you’ll need specific Certifications, such as your Commercial Pilot License - Airplane (CPL) and relevant Endorsements or Type Ratings.

Certifications you unlock by paying for and passing the corresponding test on the Certification page, you just need to unlock the prerequisite certifications. You can move through these as fast as you can pay for them.

Specializations you earn through passing Certifications, completing missions, and overall pilot level – and then finally by completing the Golden Mission associated with that Specialization.

Medevac is pretty solid but is still somewhat buggy, requires you to fly more carefully and can divert you to another airport (which is fairly buggy). Search & Rescue are fun, the airplane ones can be very difficult due to terrain. Skydive Aviation is ok but not a great earner. Agricultural Aviation is extremely challenging, requires you to hold a narrow speed, fly very low to the ground, and avoid obstacles while trying to carefully time your spray to cover only the designated area. Aerial Firefighting isn’t too bad but the water scoop can be a challenge. Aerial Construction is pretty easy if you can fly the Skycrane (I cannot). Aerial Advertising is pretty fun, use the Flight Path “Assistances” to follow the correct path.

Certifications / Endorsements

You can view your progress and available certifications under the Certification tab. Many form a branching network, where unlocking more advanced credentials requires completing prerequisites first.

Some Specializations may silently require Night Currency - Airplane, so pick that up early if a specialization seems inexplicably locked.

Note: The Heavy Airline Rating and Powered-Lift Rating are currently reserved for future updates. Release had been a goal of Sim Update 3 but that seems to not be happening for now.

I do not have all of the cost details at this time. See the Specialization list below for the certification prerequisites, only some key ones are mentioned below.

Tier	Type	Certification	Cost	Notes (**SU3=more in SU3)
0	✈	Private Pilot License - Airplane	2000	Pass this to get started. Unlocks Cessna 172, SW121, Robin DR400/100, DV20, JMB VL-3
1	✈	Commercial Pilot License - Airplane	2500	Required to earn $
2	✈	Night Currency - Airplane	7500	Unlocks real-time flights (not all missions can be flown at night)
2	✈	Instrument Rating	10000	Unlocks Live Missions, Cargo-Medium, & Charter
2	✈	Multi-Engine Rating	15000	Required for all multi-engine aircraft including the C90, PC-24, DA-62, CJ4, G58, 350i, C408
2	✈	High Performance Endorsement	5000	Required for DHC-2, C400 TT, Optica, G58, G36, PA28-236, CT210N, SR22T, **SU3
2	✈	Tailwheel Endorsement	5000	Unlocks taildraggers for you Bush pilots. Required for DHC-2, Norden, X Cub, CAP-4, Shock Ultra, AT-802, Draco X, Cap10, **SU3
3	✈	Airline Transport Pilot License - Airplane	40000
3	✈	Jet Engine Rating	30000	You’ll need this for the Vision Jet G2, CJ4, and PC-24
3	✈	Turboprop Engine Rating	20000	Unlocks turboprops and Cargo-Medium. Required for C90, 208B, PC-12, TBM 930, AT-802, Draco X, 350i, C408
4	✈	Jet Airline Transport Pilot Rating	100000	Required for the Boeing 737 Max
4	✈	Turboprop Airline Transport Pilot Rating	50000	Required for ES-30, CL-415, Saab 340, A400M
4	✈	Scoop Endorsement	15000	Required for Firefighting planes CL-415 and AT-802
5	✈	Heavy Airliner Rating (grayed out/locked)	250000	For Future Expansion, we don’t know when
1	🚁	Commercial Pilot License - Rotorcraft	3500	Prerequisite for Rotor missions. Required for Cabri G2
2	🚁	Turbine Engine Rating	7500	Required for R66, H125
2	🚁	Powered-Lift Rating (grayed out/locked)	5000	For Future Expansion, we don’t know when
3	🚁	Hook Endorsement	25000	Required for Cargo/Hook CH-47D, H125, S-64F
3	🚁	Hoist Endorsement	12500	Required for Hoist H125
3	🚁	Airline Transport Pilot License - Rotorcraft	75000	Required for CH-47D, S-64F

Companies / Specializations

Specializations and their requirements are organized here by company and company buy-in cost (not including aircraft purchase requirements). The Golden Missions details for each Specialization are in a table at the end.

Note: First Flight and Ferry Flight are only available in Employee Mode.

Employee Only

First Flight

Level 1
Private Pilot License - Airplane

Ferry Flight

Level 3
Commercial Pilot License - Airplane

Flightseeing - 1,000 credits

Flightseeing - Airplane

Level 5
Commercial Pilot License - Airplane

Flightseeing - Rotorcraft

Level 5
Commercial Pilot License - Rotorcraft

Skydive Aviation - 20,000 credits

Skydive Aviation

Level 8
Commercial Pilot License - Airplane
Score Airplane missions with C or above (N)
Perform Airplane missions with landing smoothness above 50% (N)

Cargo Transport - 10,000 credits

Cargo - Light

Level 10
Commercial Pilot License - Airplane
Perform Airplane missions with landing smoothness above 50% (N)
Score Airplane missions with C or above (N)

Cargo - Medium

Level 25
Instrument Rating
Turboprop Engine Rating
Perform flights with full ATC procedures with an Airplane (N)
Perform Cargo Airplane missions (N)

Cargo Transport - Heavy (non-functional)

Level 75
Jet Airline Transport Pilot Rating
Perform flights with full ATC procedures with an Airplane (N)
Score Cargo Transport - Medium missions with A or above (N)

Cargo Transport - Super Heavy (non-functional)

Level 90
Heavy Airliner Rating (not available)
Score Cargo Transport - Heavy missions with S (N=1)

Cargo - Hook (Rotorcraft)

Level 30
Turbine Engine Rating
Hook Endorsement
Score Rotorcraft missions with B or above (N)

Aerial Advertising - 35,000 credits

Aerial Advertising

Level 12
Commercial Pilot License - Airplane
Score Flightseeing or Skydive Aviation missions with B or above (N)

Charter Service - 25,000 credits

Charter Service - Private

Level 16
Instrument Rating
Perform Airplane missions with landing smoothness above 50% (N)
Score Airplane missions with C or above (N)

Charter Service - VIP

Level 45
Instrument Rating
Turboprop Engine Rating
Score Private Charter Airplane missions with B or above (N)

Search & Rescue - 40,000 credits

Search & Rescue - Rotorcraft

Level 12
Turbine Engine Rating
Score Rotorcraft missions with C or above (N)

Search & Rescue - Airplane

Level 20
Tailwheel Endorsement
Perform landings with an Airplane on soft runways or bush (N)

Search & Rescue - Hoist (Rotorcraft)

Level 20
Hoist Endorsement
Turbine Engine Rating
Perform Search & Rescue Rotorcraft missions (N)

Aerial Firefighting - 100,000 credits

Aerial Firefighting - Initial Attack

Level 30
Scoop Endorsement
Turboprop Engine Rating
Score Airplane missions with A or above (N)

Aerial Firefighting - Extended Attack

Level 60
Scoop Endorsement
Turboprop Airline Transport Pilot Rating
Score Firefighting Airplane missions with A or above (N)

Medevac - 50,000 credits

Medevac

Level 35
Instrument Rating
Turboprop Engine Rating
Score Airplane missions with passengers with B or above

Agricultural Aviation - 70,000

Agricultural Aviation - Rotorcraft

Level 40
Turbine Engine Rating
Perform landings with a Rotorcraft on soft runways or bush (N)

Agricultural Aviation - Airplane

Level 40
Tailwheel Endorsement
Turboprop Engine Rating
Perform landings with an Airplane on soft runways or bush (N)

Passenger Transport - 150,000 credits

Passenger Transport - Airline

Level 50
Jet Airline Transport Pilot Rating
Perform flights with full ATC procedures with an Airplane (N)
Score Airplane missions with passengers with A or above (N)

Passenger Transport - Rotorcraft

Level 3
Commercial Pilot License - Rotorcraft

Aerial Construction - 200,000 credits

Aerial Construction (Rotorcraft)

Level 50
Airline Transport Pilot License - Rotorcraft
Hook Endorsement
Score Helicopter Cargo Transport missions with S (N)

Golden Mission Details

These are the ones I have details on so far (numeric difficulty was found browsing the virtual file system for details):

Airplanes Specialization	Aircraft	Difficulty	Location
First Flight	✈ C172	★ 100	Home Airport
Ferry Flight	✈ C172	★ 125	Germany, EDRM✈EDRD
Flightseeing	✈ C172	★	Venice, Italy, LIPV
Skydive Aviation	✈ C172	★★ 150	Spain, LEAP
Cargo Transport - Light	✈ C172	★	Madagascar, FMNC✈FMAD
Aerial Advertising	✈ C172	★★ 225	Florida, KLNA
Charter Service - Private	✈ C172	125	Bora Bora, NTTB✈NTTR
Search & Rescue - Airplane	✈ XCUB	320	Chile, SCHA
Cargo Transport - Medium	✈ C208B	★★	Japan, RJTF✈RJTQ
Aerial Firefighting - Initial Attack	✈ AT-802	★★★★ 350	Spain, LEVX
Medevac	✈ C208B	★★ 200	France, LFLJ✈LFLB
Agricultural Aviation - Airplane	✈ AT-802	★★★★★ 425	Wisconsin, WS16
Charter Service - VIP	✈ PC-12	★★	Nice, France, LFBY✈LFMN
Passenger Transport - Airline	✈ B737	★★★	Jeju to Seoul, RKPC✈RKSI
Aerial Firefighting - Extended Attack	✈ CL-415	★★★★★ 475	California, Newhall, KVNY
Cargo Transport - Heavy	N/A	N/A	N/A
Cargo Transport - Super Heavy	N/A	N/A	N/A

Rotorcraft Specialization	Aircraft	Difficulty	Location
Passenger Transport - Rotorcraft	🚁 G2	150	New York, KFRG✈6N5
Flightseeing - Rotorcraft	🚁 G2	125	Canada, CYHU
Search & Rescue - Rotorcraft	🚁 H125	200	Australia, YHOT
Search & Rescue - Hoist	🚁 H125	★★ 250	South China Sea, WIDM
Cargo Transport - Hook	🚁 H125	★★★	Alaska, OL860
Agricultural Aviation - Rotorcraft	🚁 H125	★★★★★	Piedmont, Italy, LICU
Aerial Construction	🚁 S-64F	★★★★	Washington, WA74

Aircraft Guide & Recommendations

Choosing the wrong aircraft can ruin your experience. I recommend you test new aircraft and mission types in Employee Mode before committing to a purchase that might not suit your flying style. At this time, avoid the ES-30, Saab 340, King Air 350i, and—depending on your preference—the two large helicopters: Boeing CH-47D Chinook and Erickson S-64F SkyCrane.

Recommended Progression by Specialization

Cargo Transport - Light

You have four solid options for a first aircraft. Listed prices are for new purchases, but your first aircraft includes a ~95% discount (e.g., the Cessna 172 costs just 25,950 credits after the discount).

Name	New Price	Cruise(KTAS)	Range(NM)	Ceiling (ft)	Notes
Cessna 172	499,800	124	640	14,000	G1000
Norden	431,000	100	660	15,000	Cheaper, slower
Draco X	639,000	156	550	31,000	Faster, taildragger
DHC-2	961,400	109	395	15,750	Too expensive

The Cessna 172 is a solid and reliable choice. If you're comfortable with taildraggers, the Draco X offers more speed, but the extra performance won't matter much early on. Prioritize safety and ease of operation, fly what you know best.

Charter Service - Private

Again, watch the specialization Charter Service - Private and meet the prerequisites and also get the Jet Engine Rating required for the Cirrus Vision Jet G2 (certification) and buy into the Charter Service company for 25,000 credits (you’ll need some extra in the bank because you need enough to buy your first plane also). Once you get the company look for a used Cirrus Vision Jet G2. To evaluate the prices, take the listed used price, add the “Estimated maintenance costs” from all “To maintain” entries, and compare totals. Buy the cheapest viable option, repair it, and start flying.

Expect to spend around 900,000 credits after repairs, but this aircraft pays for itself quickly. You can usually get 1 or 2 flights out of a used aircraft before you must repair it but if it fails enroute you might want to Abort the mission before you crash to avoid even higher costs.

Cargo Transport - Medium

If you can handle it, the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan is a logical next step as the cheapest plane in this category. A better option, though, is the PC-12, with one major caveat: do not fly it above FL200, or missions may fail due to a bug in this plane. Always file for FL180 and carry extra fuel due to flying at the lower altitude. The C408 SkyCourier is enjoyable to fly but lacks the PC-12's speed and range in the same price range. When you can afford it, consider jumping to the PC-24 (if you own it, individually or in the Premium package).

Name	Used Price (approx)	Cruise(KTAS)	Range(NM)	Ceiling (ft)	Notes
Cessna 208B Grand Caravan	4 mil	195	964	25,000	Poor handling, Garmin Avionics
Cessna C408 SkyCourier	5.5 mil	210	920	25,000	Garmin Avionics
PC-12	5.5 mil	290	1803	30,000* Stay under 20,000!!!	Fatal above 20,000, Apex Avionics
PC-24	6.5 mil	440	2040	45,000	Burns 2x the fuel it should. Bind “Add Fuel Quantity”

Charter Service - VIP

This specialization gives you access to upgraded (more expensive) versions of the PC-12, PC-24, and the luxury CJ4 (35 million) but the missions will pay considerably more. The PC-24 is the go-to workhorse (except on xbox if you only have a controller, seems the throttle is broken). Whether the CJ4 is worth the extra cost depends on your preference.

You can also experiment with the Beechcraft King Air C90 GTx and 350i. The C90 has better range but is slower; the 350i suffers from various issues. Both are more expensive than the PC-24 and offer less.

Passenger - Airliner

Currently, the entry-level airliners (ES-30 and Saab 340b) can have issues where they crash on spawn, auto-skip-boarding-fail, or yeet the airplane into the sky. Charter Service – VIP pays better anyway.

That leaves the Boeing 737 Max 8 as the only operational—if fairly buggy option.

Graphics performance can be poor, and the mission type is riddled with bugs:

Never use “Skip to Taxi” – this causes immediate mission failure and sometimes aircraft damage.
Taxiing can cause crashes.
“Skip to Takeoff” can also crash the plane.
Some airports spawn you midair or slam the plane on the ground.
Autopilot struggles at > 2x Sim Rate.
ATC may glitch, reassign runways mid-flight, or stop responding.

Tips:

Keep a financial buffer and/or a backup aircraft.
Test unfamiliar airports in Employee Mode first.
Despite bugs, rapid missions that use Skip to Takeoff, Skip to Descent, and Skip to Parking with Cruise altitude set at 7000 feet earn me about 10 million credits every 30 minutes on average (some runs are faster, some can be slower due to ATC bugs and rerouting).
Top insurance on the 737 using this method costs you very little.

Missions: Selecting

Choosing the right missions and planning effectively improves your income and progression in MSFS 2024 Career Mode. Use filters, evaluate mission risks and rewards, and match the mission to your aircraft and capabilities.

Using Mission Filters Effectively

The mission map interface provides some minimal filtering, but unfortunately, no sorting:

Specialization Filter:
Quickly isolate missions matching your unlocked specializations. Further refine searches using the text input to quickly locate desired mission types.
Aircraft Model Filter:
Easily find missions specifically tailored to aircraft you currently own or prefer flying. Only filters the missions however, and not the aircraft on the map.
Difficulty Filter:
Not all that useful but can use it to hide all missions and more easily find all your aircraft.

In addition to this, you can zoom down to an individual airport and select ‘Mission list’ on that airport – that can show missions that exist that aren’t showing up on the map view. Especially important for Charter Service - VIP and Passenger - Airliner mission types.

Checking Departure/Arrival Runway Lengths and Types

Before accepting a mission check the EFB:

Verify Runway Length:
Ensure runways at both departure and destination airports are sufficient for your piloting skill and selected aircraft, particularly critical for jets and heavier turboprops.
Runway Surface Type:
Check runway type (asphalt, concrete, dirt, grass, water) to avoid selecting unsuitable landing surfaces for your aircraft. Avoid missions involving water landings unless specifically equipped for such operations. Runways that end in W indicate that it is a water runway.

Earlier on it also doesn’t hurt to use the Cam mode to fly down and view the runways, look for obstructions (usually massive trees). Once you get into well-known airports these become less of an issue.

Mission Difficulty Levels and Types

The star ratings unfortunately don’t mean what they really should. Most of the 1-star and 2-star missions are the lower-level Specialization types (which doesn’t mean they aren’t nearly impossible to land because the runway is 300 feet long but is still a 1-star mission). Some specializations span a couple of different difficulty levels.

Here are the Specialization and Star Difficulty associations:

5-Star Difficulty

Aerial Firefighting - Extended Attack
Agricultural Aviation

4-Star Difficulty

Aerial Construction
Medevac
Cargo Transport - Medium
Passenger Transport - Airline
Search & Rescue

3-Star Difficulty

Charter Service - VIP
Aerial Advertising
Medevac
Cargo Transport - Medium
Passenger Transport - Airline
Search & Rescue

2-Star Difficulty

Ferry Flight
Skydive Aviation
Charter Service - Private
Charter Service - VIP
Aerial Advertising
Medevac
Cargo Transport - Light
Cargo Transport - Medium
Passenger Transport - Rotorcraft
Passenger Transport - Airline
Search & Rescue

1-Star Difficulty

First Flight
Ferry Flight
Flightseeing
Skydive Aviation
Charter Service - Private
Cargo Transport - Light
Passenger Transport - Rotorcraft
Search & Rescue

In Freelancer Mode always check the transfer cost for the plane you wish to fly the mission with also. Sometimes that can eat millions of Credits if you aren’t careful.

Mission Preparation and Procedures

Proper mission preparation ensures smoother flights, fewer failures, and more efficient operations.

Pre-flight Preparations

Finding your airplane

As you get more aircraft it will become difficult to find them on the map so you know where to look for missions. To find a specific aircraft go into the Companies menu, All companies, select the company owning the aircraft you want to find, click on the aircraft in your Aircraft list, select the Manage Aircraft menu option. It will have the location and flight hours for that aircraft in the upper left corner, as shown here we can go to LIPM to find our Cargo PC-12. On the Mission Map you can enter LIPM in the search bar (upper left), and then click the airport in the search result list and the map will swing over to that airport.

Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) Usage

Use the EFB in the mission map view before starting any mission:

Set your desired Cruise Altitude and choose either VFR or IFR as appropriate. (Do not attempt VFR for Passenger Transport missions.)
Adjust Departure and Arrival procedures if needed.
Select your preferred Approach Type. Choose ILS or RNAV when available; use VOR, NDB, or Visual approaches as backups.
Avoid editing enroute waypoints. Deviating too far from the assigned path can cause mission failure.
Always click Send to ATC to file your flight plan. This ensures correct ATC handling and prevents unrealistic altitude assignments (e.g., FL450 in a Cessna 172).

Cruise Altitude Guidelines

Set realistic altitudes based on aircraft performance:

PC-12: Use FL180 or below to avoid the pressurization bug, leading to mission failure.
Can try the flightsim.to patch.
Jets (CJ4, PC-24, 737): Select altitudes at or above FL290 for fuel-efficient cruise. Match altitude with mission length and aircraft capabilities.

Fuel Management

Fuel planning differs between Employee Mode and Freelancer Mode.

Employee Mode: Aircraft starts with a mission assigned fuel amount. You can add more fuel without cost and I recommend adding some free buffer.
Freelancer Mode: Fuel level carries over from mission to mission. Check fuel levels before each flight and top off as needed. For tighter margins, use SimBrief for fuel planning and consider adding a 10–15% buffer.
The PC-24 has a bug where it burns twice the fuel it should, bring extra or use the “Add Fuel Quantity” work-around for now.
In Sim Update 2 skipping phases does not consume any fuel, that is changing in Sim Update 3 which is coming soon – at that point you will require sufficient fuel to be able to Skip and it will consume some computed amount of fuel when you do.

Binding "Add Fuel Quantity"

For now, you can manually add fuel mid-flight, but this will probably go away at some point:

Bind "Add Fuel Quantity" to a key combination (e.g., Ctrl + Alt + Shift + F).
Be aware there are two similar bindings—verify that your chosen one works.
Do not use "Refuel and Repair," as it will end your mission with an error.

Fast Travel

Fast Travel helps unlock new mission markets and expand your operational area.

In the mission map, zoom in close to view circular icons for airports, heliports, and seaports.
Click an icon to select Fast Travel and pay a small fee based on distance.
Fast Travel only moves your player icon, not your aircraft.

Avoid excessive Fast Travel to conserve credits early on.

Gameplay Mechanics & Strategies

The scoring and payout systems in Career Mode are only partially understood, particularly in areas like Passenger Satisfaction and Airline Procedures. However, some patterns are more clear.

The job listing displays the maximum possible payout excluding any Bad Weather bonus. This includes Base Income, No-Skip Bonus, and Reputation Bonus. Your Reputation Bonus is calculated from your reputation at the start of the mission, not when you complete it. The bonus is a percentage of the actual Base Income and No-Skip Bonus you earn, not the full listed job amount.

If a mission offers 100,000 credits, approximately 90,000 of that comes from Base Income and No-Skip Bonus, while up to, for example, 10,000 is available as a Reputation Bonus (e.g., 10% for A-tier, 20% for S-tier). If you only earn 50,000 in base and bonus payouts, your A-tier reputation would yield a 5,000 credit bonus. These percentages may vary by mission type.

Scoring System

Base Income: Core mission payout, partially based on performance (maybe).
Reputation Bonus: Calculated as a percentage of earned payout depending on your tier (e.g., 10% for A-tier, 20% for S-tier). This is pre-factored into the offered payout.
No-Skip Bonus: Awarded for completing all flight phases without using skips. Most of this bonus comes from avoiding “Skip to Descent.” Skipping taxi, takeoff, or parking phases has minimal effect. Sim Rate increases do not reduce this bonus.

Factors Affecting Payout

Not complete but here are some:

ATC compliance, including proper radio use and timely acknowledgments.
Adherence to aircraft speed limits and correct gear/flap operation.
Unclear factors like Passenger Satisfaction and Airline Procedures may also contribute, but remain inconsistent. Smooth flying, timely passenger communications, proper lighting and other procedures may factor in.

Tips for Maximizing Income and Reputation

File flight plans via the EFB to avoid penalties.
Use smooth, controlled taxi speeds and follow ATC instructions closely.
Be aware that occasional scoring penalties may occur due to bugs, even with clean performance.

End Game Strategy

Passenger missions with the Boeing 737 offer the highest payouts, from hundreds of thousands up to 19 million for a few missions (which can earn you 30 million+ with bad weather bonus).
High-profit routes are found largely between Eastern United States and Western Europe although it’s too difficult to try to find all of them here are some I have flown successfully:

EDDF to FNLU
EGCC to KATL
EGLL to HAAB
EGLL to KATL
EGLL to KCLT
EHAM to HTKJ
EKCH to KEWR
EKCH to KIAD
FZQA to HECA
KATL to EGLL
KCLT to LEMD
KCLT to LFPG
KIAD to EKCH
KJFK to LIPZ
KJFK to LKPR
KMIA to LPPT
KSDF to EGSS
LEMD to KIAD
LEMD to KPHL
LEMD to TAPA
LFPG to KMSP

Be cautious of bugs; consider testing new airports first in Employee mode.

Zen and the Art of Aircraft Maintenance

In Freelancer Mode, aircraft maintenance is essential. If you delay required checks, your planes may suffer mission failures or become unflyable. If you've enabled Crew on an aircraft, expect additional wear and tear.

Regular Maintenance Checks

Required Maintenance: These are scheduled and must be completed to keep the aircraft operational. You’ll get warnings on aircraft when they’re due, every 25 hours of flight.
Recommended Checks: Even if not required, inspect your aircraft after any hard landings or if you receive any in-flight damage or failure notices.

Repairing Aircraft

Repair really means Replace, you pay full price no matter how worn the part is.
Repair costs vary by aircraft part. High wear items are usually less expensive.
Drilling down into details and only repairing what is needed can save you money because it can replace parts early that don’t really need it yet.
Unless you have a hard landing, crash, overspeed, or over-torque an engine I don’t recommend doing maintenance checks more than about every 12-16 flight hours (especially if you are just doing “delegated maintenance”). Once you pass a maintenance check everything should be ok for at least 24 flight hours of normal wear & tear.
Keep some spare Credits available to cover unexpected repairs.
You can get to the Manage Aircraft menu from the Mission map screen also, to make it easier you can select a mix of mission filters that hide all or most of the missions

Always buy the Top insurance or have enough spare planes or money to self-insure. Yes, it’s expensive but game bugs are common.

Gameplay Features

Career Mode includes several advanced systems that enhance gameplay and increase efficiency when used correctly.

Passive Income

Set Crew = On for aircraft you own to earn additional “passive” income while you are flying other Employee or Freelancer missions (but not time over in Free Flight).
It does not earn anything when you aren’t flying.
Passive earnings depend on the aircraft and company (for example, a Cessna 172 will earn different amounts in Flightseeing company from a Cargo company, but the differences are not significant).
Insurance is not charged on the planes that are earning passively, you only pay for insurance on the plane you are flying.
Not all aircraft earn well this way—you may want to monitor performance and disable crew on low-profit aircraft with high maintenance costs. See the Google spreadsheet with earnings and repair cost data. The 737 seems to be the worst investment for Passive income but it seems to still earn a profit overall.

Co-Pilot Communications

The co-pilot doesn’t do much actively but will make some automated callouts such as:

V1 Rotate
Passing 10,000 feet
Check altimeter setting above FL180
Gear down
Flaps overspeed

These are informational only. You are still responsible for systems, ATC, and procedures.

Planes from Deluxe or Premium packages

NAME	PACKAGE
Beechcraft King Air C90 GTx	PREMIUM
Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner	PREMIUM
Boeing B747-400 LCF (Dreamlifter)	PREMIUM
Boeing CH-47D Chinook	PREMIUM
Cessna 172 Skyhawk (Basic)	DELUXE
Cessna C408 SkyCourier	DELUXE
Cirrus SR22T	PREMIUM
Diamond Aircraft DA40 TDI	DELUXE
Pilatus PC-24	PREMIUM
Pipistrel Virus SW121	PREMIUM
Saab 340	PREMIUM
Textron Aviation Beechcraft Baron G58	DELUXE
Zlin Aviation Norden	PREMIUM
Zlin Aviation Shock Ultra	PREMIUM

Notes On Various Missions/Aircraft

Skipping to Taxi in Helicopters

The Collective will often start fully raised, so even if you are going to skip, hop into the helicopter and lower the collective. Then you can Skip to Taxi more safely.

Crashing On Takeoff - Do Not Skip Cutscenes

Seems to be mostly related to leaving a door or window open. Don’t skip cutscenes, as that can cause this. Leaving and reentering the aircraft can APPEAR to have closed the door but not actually closed the door.

Medevac

Make sure you file an IFR flight plan and, if needed, manually file that with ATC once airborne (if departing from non-Towered airports). If the mission seems to not be proceeding after takeoff this could be the issue.

Autoland on the 737

The 737 can autoland under the right conditions:

ILS runway with working glideslope
Stable approach with gear down, flaps set
FLARE is armed on the PFD

Reduce throttle gradually starting at 30 feet AGL to avoid hard landings
Autoland may fail in gusty conditions or at misaligned airports. Monitor closely

ES-30 Notes

Will instantly crash on spawn, do not recommend
Set takeoff trim to 20-30 (Skip will set it to 30)
LV EXT may give you unlimited battery power (verify in case it changes)
Go easy on the throttle, be careful about overspeed and overtorque
Full reverse thrust can cause fatal tail strike, use with caution
Autobrake works even though it says INOP

King Air 350i Notes

Airspeed Indicator is INOP in SU2 (is fixed in SU3 beta)
Yaw Dampener is INOP
Has no engine instruments and will overtorque easily
Costs more than PC-24 for less range and speed

Sim Rate

Use Sim Rate Increase and Sim Rate Decrease bindings to speed up or slow down time. This can greatly speed up longer missions if you are inclined to do so.
Available rates: ¼x, ½x, 1x (normal), 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x.
Higher Sim Rate multipliers can be dangerous.
Sim rate affects ATC and control input timing. Use ½x when you are going to Skip to Descent or when you have little time to avoid missing key radio communications (on final after Skip to Descent).
The EFB stopwatch helps estimate current sim rate, the game doesn’t tell you what it is at.

Understanding Airspeeds

IAS (Indicated Airspeed): Used for aircraft control and limits. As atmospheric density decreases this will go lower than TAS (much lower at high altitudes).
TAS (True Airspeed): speed through the air corrected for altitude density, used for flight planning.
Ground Speed: TAS plus wind effects. Determines arrival time.

Use IAS for aircraft handling, TAS for planning (in combination with wind data), and Ground Speed to estimate time over the ground.

The game cares about Ground Speed when you are taxiing, don’t exceed about 22 knots while on a taxi way. Under 10,000 feet you need to maintain under 250 knots IAS, because of wind gusts you usually want to stay closer to 240. Your top end is going to be limited by both MACH and IAS limits.

Dirt and Wear Effects

Aircraft accumulate visual wear and dirt over time. These effects are (mostly?) cosmetic and vary by aircraft:

Faded Paint – I could not detect any effect of this one
Regular Dirt – Bug splatter on windows and leading edges
Leaks – Stains that come out of various seams and rivets, does not wash off
Runway – Smudges and grime on undercarriage and lower fuselage from paved runways
Mud – Clumps of dirt on lower surfaces such as from rough-field operations
Dust – Fine coating over surfaces, most visible on GA aircraft like the C172

Developer Mode has a control where you can set these for your current aircraft and see the effects.

Paint & Cosmetic

Repainting currently does nothing and it doesn’t affect passenger satisfaction in my testing. In the future it might allow you to select alternative Livery but it currently does not.

Headquarters

Your HQ will upgrade itself over time, I think it has to do with your Level (e.g., you get an office at level 3) and/or which aircraft you own, but I’m not certain. Just level up and buy bigger planes and you’ll get the Executive Suite eventually (might require owning a 737).

Dealing with Mission Stuck States

Mission progression can get stuck due to bugs.

If the option is available try to talk to ATC, request a different arrival or runway. If there is a mission objective try to do it, even if you have to take back off. If in the air, can try to report missed approach, and see if it will reset. If on the ground can try driving around the airport, if it will register you have gone off the runway, it will ding you but “Skip To Parking” option usually appears.

Sometimes the mission just won’t complete and you have to Abort it and try another one.

Can’t Buy Company/Access Missions

There are several things that all need to be lined up correctly.

To buy into a company you must have the required Specialization, PLUS sufficient funds for the Company, PLUS sufficient funds for your first Aircraft in that company.
Check that all prerequisites are met on the Specialization you need.
Once the Specialization prerequisites are met, look for the Golden Mission and complete it, if you haven’t.
Once you buy the company you need to buy a compatible aircraft for that specific kind of mission for those missions to show up on your map (e.g., you cannot do Charter Service - VIP missions in a Vision Jet G2).

Special Missions

These are coded Yellow (as opposed to the more orangish “Golden” missions) and have an asterisk on them. I do not know what causes these to appear, possibly level and/or reputation related. This is not a complete list but are some of the missions I have seen.

Charter Service - VIP Airliner | 737 MAX 8 | KSFO-KLAX | Los Angeles

Charter Service - VIP Airliner | 737 MAX 8 | CYYZ-EGNR | Chester

Charter Service - VIP Airliner | 737 MAX 8 | KBOS-EGGP | Liverpool

Charter Service - VIP Airliner | 737 MAX 8 | DTTA-EGNR | Chester

Charter Service - VIP Airliner | 737 MAX 8 | DTNH-EGNR | Chester

Charter Service - VIP Airliner | 737 MAX 8 | DERK-EGNR | Chester

Charter Service - VIP Airliner | 737 MAX 8 | KIAD-KMYF | San Diego

Charter Service - VIP Airliner | 737 MAX 8 | KSLC-KSAN | San Diego

Charter Service - VIP Airliner | 737 MAX 8 | KAUS-MMTJ | Tijuana

Charter Service - VIP Airliner | 737 MAX 8 | PHNL-MMTJ | Tijuana

Charter Service - VIP Airliner | 737 MAX 8 | KBHM-EGLL | Hounslow

Charter Service - VIP Airliner | 737 MAX 8 | KCLT-EGLL | Hounslow

Charter Service - VIP Airliner | 737 MAX 8 | KRDU-EGLL | Hounslow

Charter Service - VIP Airliner | 737 MAX 8 | KBOS-EGLL | Hounslow

Charter Service - VIP Airliner | 737 MAX 8 | HLGD-EGLL | Hounslow

Charter Service - VIP Airliner | 737 MAX 8 | DTNH-EGLL | Hounslow

Charter Service - VIP Airliner | 737 MAX 8 | DTTA-EGLL | Hounslow

Charter Service - VIP Airliner | 737 MAX 8 | LEBL-EGLL | Hounslow

Scientific Research | DA62 | KCVC-KCVC | Furious twister near Covington

Unknown Missions

Military Plane / Scientific Base / KMGE-KXTA “expected ASAP by the scientific team stationed near Nevada”

Unknown / EGTC✈LFML / maybe some heavy aircraft

Aerospace / KATL-KXMR / Cape Canaveral Afs Skid Strip

Nordfriesland, US, EDXJ

Starting Process Quick Reference

Choose your Home airport
Fly the introductory flight
Get your Private Pilots License (PPL)
Fly Ferry Flight Golden Mission from your Home airport
Fly a couple of Ferry Flights (no pay yet!)
Get your Commercial Pilots License (CPL), fly missions for pay and to level up
Level 3 unlocks Ferry Flight, Fly the Golden Mission out of Germany
Level 5 unlocks Flightseeing , Fly the Golden Mission out of Venice, Italy
Advise against buying the Flightseeing company, recommend to save for Cargo Transport
Level 8 unlocks Skydive Aviation, Fly the Golden Mission out of Spain (airport LEAP)
Level 10 unlocks Cargo Transport - Light, Fly the Golden Mission out of Madagascar
When you have 35,950 Cr Purchase your Cargo Company for 10,000 Cr and your first plane for 25,950 Cr (or can try to save up for Charter Service if you prefer).