Create your first passenger schedule

Before you open the designer

• Use a desktop computer. The Schedule Designer requires a desktop layout.
• Sign in to the correct airline with permission to manage templates and create aircraft schedules.
• Have a suitable, available company aircraft and at least one active, verified passenger route that is not archived.
• Know where your aircraft is located and leave funds and time for operating costs and maintenance.

If you have not bought an aircraft or verified your route yet, start with Start your passenger airline.

1. Create a draft template

Open Airline → Airline Operations → Schedules, then choose New Template.

1. Enter a clear name, such as First Passenger Rotation. Names accept letters, numbers, spaces, and dashes, up to 64 characters.
2. Leave Active from and Active to blank while you are building. This creates a draft.
3. Confirm creation and find your new template in the list.

2. Add your aircraft schedule

1. Use Create Schedule for the new template.
2. Select the aircraft registration you want to operate. Check any assignment conflict shown by the picker.
3. Choose Create to open the Schedule Designer.
4. Confirm the selected aircraft and its range before adding flights. The aircraft selection affects which routes are eligible.

Resolve an unavailable aircraft or assignment conflict before continuing. Choosing a different registration is only useful if that aircraft is actually suitable and available.

3. Find your way around the builder

1. Aircraft and Eligible flightsThe left panel contains the aircraft selector, route search, and filters. Search by route, ICAO airport code, or route ID.
2. Weekly TimelineThe centre shows Sunday through Saturday. Drop route cards onto the day you want to operate. Each block represents a scheduled flight or transfer.
3. Details and checksThe details panel shows the selected block, departure and arrival times, overlap and continuity checks, and a conflict count.
4. Validate and SaveUse the top controls to check the plan and save it. Publishing happens separately from the Schedules page.

For highlights on the actual controls, select Help → Guide Me. You can also choose Help → Tutorial and then Start On-Screen Guide.

4. Place the outbound flight

1. Find your route under Eligible flights. If it is missing, clear the search, duration, type, and route-usage filters before checking its verification and aircraft suitability.
2. Drag the route card onto your chosen day in the Weekly Timeline.
3. Select the required Direction: outbound or inbound. Neither is selected automatically; read the airport codes carefully.
4. Set STD (UTC), the scheduled departure time. Check the arrival preview. Any local-time hint is a reference; the departure field is UTC.
5. Review Turnaround (min), the ground time after the flight before the next departure.
6. Leave Repeat set to Off for this first flight. Add optional notes, then confirm the flight.

The builder suggests placement after existing blocks and accounts for flights crossing midnight. Review the resulting times and day rather than assuming that dropping a card sets an exact departure time.

5. Add the return flight and allow turnaround

Drag the same route onto the timeline again, then select the opposite direction. One route covers both directions, but the outbound and return services are separate flight blocks in the timetable.

1. Check that the return flight departs from the outbound flight's destination.
2. Set its departure after the outbound arrival plus the turnaround allowance.
3. Keep Repeat off and confirm the return flight.
4. Check where the aircraft ends the day, especially if the next operating day starts at another airport.

6. Choose operating days without overfilling the week

Build only the days you intend to operate. For a controlled first timetable, keep Repeat off and add the outbound-and-return pair to each chosen day. Check the aircraft's location between days as well as within each day.

• Off: add the selected flight without filling a repeating pattern.
• All day: fill the remaining day by alternating the route in both directions.
• Entire week: apply that alternating pattern across the week. This does not mean one flight per day.

Use the repeat options or Auto Build only after you understand the first rotation. Inspect every generated block and retain gaps for maintenance and operational flexibility.

Flights that pass midnight are split across days in the timeline. A continuation at 00:00 is part of the same flight, not a second service to add again. Also check the transition from Saturday into the next Sunday.

7. Fix conflicts and validate the whole plan

Select Validate. Review the details panel and any highlighted errors before saving.

Overlapping flights or insufficient ground time

Move the later departure or remove a block. Check the preceding arrival and its turnaround allowance, including flights continuing from the previous day.

Continuity issue

The aircraft is at one airport but its next flight departs from another. Choose a connected route, change the order, or review the proposed transfer to reposition it.

A TRANSFER is proposed

Read its origin, destination, time, and estimated duration before accepting. It is a repositioning movement, not another passenger service on your chosen route. Do not assume a declined transfer makes the location gap disappear.

The route cannot be used

Check that it belongs to your airline, is active and verified, is not archived, and is suitable for the selected aircraft. Clear route filters if the list appears empty.

Click a flight block to inspect or edit it. The Edit Block dialog lets you change its departure and turnaround, save changes, or delete the block. Revalidate after changes and review the full week, not just the flight you moved.

8. Save the draft, then publish the template

1. Select Save in the designer and wait for confirmation. Return to the template on the Schedules page.
2. Review every aircraft schedule in the template. Confirm registrations, routes, operating days, UTC times, and any transfers.
3. Choose Publish for the template.
4. Set Active from to an allowed date. The portal requires at least 14 days from the day you publish; use the earliest date shown in the dialog.
5. Optionally set Active to later than Active from, or leave it blank for an open-ended plan.
6. Read the confirmation and publish. Check the resulting status and dates.

9. Check the operation and review results

Return to Schedules and confirm that the template is published with the intended start date. Use the Rotation Board to review live aircraft rotations created from published templates and Upcoming flights to inspect generated departures when available.

If no flight is due today, check the active date, operating weekday, UTC departure time, and aircraft assignment before assuming publication failed. Do not publish duplicate templates to force a flight to appear.

Once services have operated, review flight results and Finances. Compare revenue with costs and maintenance needs. Add routes or frequency when the results support it, rather than filling every available minute.

Before you finish

• The correct aircraft registration is assigned.
• Every passenger route is active and verified.
• Outbound and return directions are correct.
• Departures use UTC and allow turnaround after the previous arrival.
• The aircraft's location connects between flights, days, and the weekly boundary.
• Transfers are understood, conflicts are resolved, and maintenance time remains.
• The template is published, with its 14-day lead time and intended active dates.
• You know where to check rotations, upcoming flights, and operating results.

Next: keep your aircraft ready

Learn how to check maintenance allowances, arrange a workshop slot, and plan downtime in Aircraft maintenance: keep your airline flying.

Continue: Troubleshoot a scheduled flight.