Air Honcho

1 min read Original article ↗

New game

You have just been made chief executive of Air Honcho, an airline that does not exist yet.

There is money in the bank, a name on the door, and nothing in the air. What you do with that is the game.

The job
Lease or buy aircraft, open sectors between cities, and set what you charge. Everything here is a decision a board actually takes — fleet, network, pricing, debt. Nobody asks you to roster a crew.

A turn
One quarter. Nothing is timed; think as long as you like.

You win
By being the most valuable carrier in the sky when the horizon closes — or sooner, if every rival is bankrupt or bought.

You lose
By running out of cash, or by letting a rival buy a controlling stake in you. Both are real endings.

The competition
You start alone. Rivals arrive over the years — a low-cost operator undercutting everyone, a legacy carrier defending a fortress hub, a state-backed flag carrier that can afford to lose money, a roll-up artist buying whoever is weakest. They come sooner the better you do.