What Is The Best Career Addon For Microsoft Flight Simulator?

There are a bunch of different career addons for Microsoft Flight Simulator but which one is the best? In this video we assess the contenders.
00:00 Intro
01:45 FS Economy
06:20 Neofly
11:23 Air Hauler 2
17:42 It's A Pilot'sLife
21:14 The Skypark
27:48 OnAir Airline Manager
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[@kiwinesss]

It has been a cuppla years since you did this comparison. Maybe you should do another one, they have all changed so much.

[@KiwiMace]

Yep good call - it’s something I want to do for sure

[@epos79]

+1 bro...few more web based stuff i have seen

[@Dearestandme]

loved Neofly after my first cargo mission. Gives MFS purpose

[@nickbirt2860]

As always, great video Mace. I was especially impressed with the fact you were able to do your 90 day 3 take off and landings to stay current all in one go and the reverse parking at the end! Sublime airmanship! I know its what we've all come to expect but its always nice to see it in practice :)

[@KiwiMace]

It’s a result of many years of hard work - not everyone has that sort of skill Nick!!!!

[@rtrascal3431]

I'm subscribed to OnAir, and have used FS Economy and am now using NeoFly. As a starting pilot, the frustrations I had with OnAir is that I would take a job only to find out that airport destination didn't exist in MSFS. Same issue with airplanes available to buyor rent not being in MSFS. Also, you start with a little plane with little passenger jobs only to find that they are divided into coach, business, and first class but your G36 probably only has coach. Seems like those passenger classes should only apply to jet travel. Lastly, the calculations for weight aren't helpful and you end up skimping on fuel weight to compensate and then the safety margin can keep you from taking a job or making multiple stops, etc. It's like I'm fighting the program a lot. I think the issue with FSE I had is that it was just flat - not a lot of depth or limited in some respects. NeoFly seems to be better than OnAir (for my needs) but it's kinda quirky too in terms of finding aircraft and mixing jobs and market materials, etc. Can't beat the cost of NeoFly though and plan to contribute $ as a way to say thanks and keep the energy going. My dream app would be a career sim where you get hired by a virtual "airline" that starts you off as a bush pilot taking out fisherman, hunters, etc. into remote locations and then you progress from there and find jobs for other "airlines" in other locations around the world. You can create that kind of experience (esp. in NeoFly with bush jobs) on your own but it takes your own imagination to figure out what airport locales to try next.

[@daxconnell7661]

i really like this video. as a person starting out in the career perspective of flight simulation, it's nice to see some of the pros and cons of each of the software offerings that are available. it's definitely a good time for flight sim lovers with all the new innovations for enhancements to the experience

[@KiwiMace]

Totally agree thanks Dax

[@chrisso1985]

Nice to see you ended the video with a traditional Kiwi Air landing. Nice round up of the addons. I might have to get into FSEconomey and give it a go.

[@KiwiMace]

Hahaha yeah I was wondering if people would watch that far Chris - quality flying as always !

[@MatthewJohnCrittenden]

I'm all in on NeoFly, the variety of missions and steady updates deserve rewarding the dev. I may not be into the micromanagement aspects but the other features make it worth it. Love the search and rescue adventures.

[@djfishnz]

I used neofly a while back, getting back into the sim now i have time and was really upset, i found the interface changes really unintuitive :s

[@MatthewJohnCrittenden]

@@djfishnz I don't care for the more micro-management aspects which have added to the complexity of the interface. Maybe a "simple" mode would help things? In any case I think the dev is still worth supporting for his efforts.

[@djfishnz]

@@MatthewJohnCrittenden agreed, i need to spend some more time with it and ge reaquainted

[@TheKetsa]

The new interface is a catastrophe...sadly.

[@MatthewJohnCrittenden]

@@TheKetsa That's indeed sad to hear. I don't fly much these days but was all into NeoFly back then.

[@hazlogen8577]

Thank you for the informational video! I've been in a toss up myself as far as which one of these programs I should go for, and you definitely helped in the decision making process! I might just use all of them because as you said each program offers something different! Have my like sir! Much appreciated!

[@hazlogen8577]

Also I loved the ending hahahaha

[@KiwiMace]

I’m glad you enjoyed it, thanks for taking the time to comment :). And yes....that was one of my better landings lol!!!

[@Ronald9540]

Nice landing! But it’s a great overview. Personally, I like NeoFly for the special missions, SkyPark for the flexibility, Air Hauler 2 for the management aspect and FSeconomy for the multiplayer aspect (planning FBO’s and routes).

[@KiwiMace]

Haha quality flying as always Ronald - agree with your summary

[@DavidKing-ph8or]

Fantastic reviews - cheers mate :-)

[@RivalGrimReaper]

Recently started using FSE with FS2020, and so far loving it, made my first 250k from renting and flying, and recently leased my first beechcraft 350i from a great online virtual company, so now to fly like a crazyman and buy my own asap! :) highly recommend! I do use Skypark too, which is fun, but doesn't currently feel like progression counts for much, so needs a purpose, but def one to watch!

[@KiwiMace]

Nice! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment

[@Torgonius]

Very cool to see there are a bunch of alternatives to FSEconomy which is still not accepting new people as of today.

[@davidh7280]

I have NeoFly and AH2. For helicopters especially H135 go for Neofly. For heavies go for AH2. NeoFly is fun and gives you more control over where and what you fly and it's free, with a donation opportunity. Rescue missions are very rewarding in NeoFly.

[@RigidRecords69]

I find AH2 a bit too expensive for my taste.

[@liortaylor5305]

great overview, thanks!

[@KiwiMace]

Thanks for watching :)

[@fournicknet]

great reviews A++++

[@Zeitrafferfilm]

This is a great and very helpful video, thank you so much! I don't remember, did you tell about the 7 days trial version of OnAir?

[@KiwiMace]

I've mentioned it before definitely. Thanks for watching :)

[@SimUKReviews]

🤣 The auto text understood you to say Korea instead of Career. You know that I Love the Kiwi accent mate. 🥝 🇳🇿

[@KiwiMace]

Haaha close enough!!

[@Steadymobbin711]

Thank you thank you THANK YOU!

[@JenniferinIllinois]

You got me interested in OnAir and I still use it. The others don't really interest me as much, although Skypark has, peaked my interest a bit. The OnAir subscription model is not my favorite but it's reasonable cost, IMO.

[@Oats4761]

Piqued*

[@KrikZ32]

I used onair for a year, and didn't want to renew the subscription so I got Neofly and it's actually better in some ways, there are more intersting missions than just nothing but airport to airport missions

[@GeoZero]

I tried NeoFly and it is pretty darn good, especially price wise. But I am not much into the "missions", and would rather use a career mode style. Then I tried OnAir and it's a whole lot more fun and challenging from a career mode perspective. However, you can only have one company at a time in each "world" (probably a server somewhere) and that's a bit of a bummer. There's a few other things I'd like to see implemented and hope that since it is a subscription based add-on that there will be updates and additions. I sure wish Microsoft had thought of a career mode.

[@hughmanwho]

They have thought of it.. Microsoft Flight Sim X has it. But I suspect they intentionally didn't include because they are adding it to 2024 and it's a reason people will buy it.

[@willynanita]

I would have loved to see the apps integration with the sim, how you setup the missions on the simulator, for instance.

[@KiwiMace]

Hey Wilfredo, search my channel I have a ton of videos showing these programs in depth

[@ddthompson42]

I just started using NeoFly a couple days ago, and it’s all I need. I wanted a mission generator that could give me airports to fly to that I’d never think to otherwise. I would get in ruts only flying to/from my favorite airports in my favorite planes. NeoFly so far has given me missions to airports I’ve never flown to, including some strips stuck in the mountains that gave me some additional challenges. I also like the idea of picking up where I left off: flew into some crevice, and the next time I boot up the so, I’ll have to get out of the same crevice. Good stuff! Some of these others programs are very interesting, though. Thanks for the vid!

[@KiwiMace]

Hey Derek, thanks for taking the time to comment. Yes agree, Neofly is a great addon and I'm pleased you're enjoying it.

[@zofrenlepetitkopat2979]

You should add FSCharter and FSAirlines.

[@folfex1971]

today we will be seeing what the beast Korea addon for MSFS 2020 is.

[@nickmajurovski2516]

Personally prefer on air the most. UI works best for me and more sim based.

[@Outworlder]

Fseconomy has a big advantage in that it's not tied to a single simulator. You could start a flight on X-Plane, finish the mission, start MSFS 2020, get another aircraft and fly another mission. All in the same account. This is nice specially if you have aircraft in one sim that's not available in another(say, an airport has a Vision Jet for rental).

[@KiwiMace]

Hey Stephen, All the other programs except Neofly support other simulators too

[@Antonio-lt1sp]

I have Air Hauler 2 for P3D, and I can't use if for FS2020 (would have to buy a new license)

[@ariasd]

Thank you for the video! However, one main aspect that the comparison is missing is weight and balance and weight capacity of the aircraft! with skypark, you can load any weight in a Cessna 172 which is extremely unrealistic!

[@darrenberkey7017]

The newest version of NeoFly (v4) is FAR better than the old one in every possible way. Better UI, cleaner look, more features, more mission types, etc.

[@MorrisseysMonkey]

I haven't tried FSEconomy but I like the rest especially 'SkyPark' as its a doddle to set up and go fly.

[@KiwiMace]

Yep agree!

[@ronloveflying]

Thanks for the info. Can you fly the a32nx by Flybywire in Skypark? Thanks

[@KiwiMace]

I'm pretty sure you can fly any aircraft. It's been a while since I've flown in Skypark

[@scallywag323]

Bit of a pucker factor in the landing. Lol. Good overview, tho. I broke down and got on air. It seems to have the most depth, IMO.

[@KiwiMace]

Hahaha yeah starting to regret using that footage lol! Good luck with your OA career

[@scallywag323]

@@KiwiMace nah, that was good. That's a tough approach. There are so many approaches in the sim with high trees like that. They need to hire some stimulated lumberjacks.

[@KiwiMace]

Yeah that and my average flying skills !

[@KrikZ32]

I used onair for a year, if you don't want to renew it Neofly is really similar and kind of better in some ways.

[@TheSoldier718]

I tried fs economy then tried on air and I prefer on air

[@MichaelThomas-qx7fq]

Hi Mace - which one is the best for < 30-60 minute flights? Keen not to sit on autopilot for 120 minutes!

[@KiwiMace]

Hi Michael, I'd say probably Neofly and FS Economy for those types of flights.

[@sanjivbhattacharjee9469]

Which one u enjoyed the most? Made u hooked for long?

[@LarryOnKeys]

As soon as he said drugs and weapons.....hello would you please take my money?

[@KiwiMace]

😂

[@richard76rama]

Are any of those apps measure your flight performance? Like if you land very hard... or if you fly a GA aircraft like aerobatics(lol)?

[@KiwiMace]

Hi Richard, yes some do. For example if you are flying bottles in Neofly and land too hard you can fail the mission

[@elbapino6531]

Hello friend, how to set that tips when you took off please ? Where to activate that ? Nice stream ! thks

[@KiwiMace]

Hey, those automatically appeared. I didn't do anything.

[@invincible739]

thanks

[@KiwiMace]

Thanks for watching :)

[@DevinBidwell]

I'm currently working on a whole brand new and modern "FSEconomy" with a full desktop companion app. Downside: as of now it will only work with MSFS.

[@KiwiMace]

Sounds interesting, do you have a demo?

[@DevinBidwell]

@@KiwiMace not yet: it's very early in the works. But I can say it'll be free and persistent like FSEconomy.

[@DevinBidwell]

@@KiwiMace As I'm the only one developing this it'll take a bit more time and there will be growing pains of course.

[@SnapshotHoffy]

I have been playing NeoFly and enjoying it, but it does have one bad issue that annoys me, you press connect to fly and it does not recognize the plane you are in and ready to fly and then you are are stuck with the mission and the commodities you may have on board.

[@speedman223344]

I can't even select an airplane in the "Flying" tab - and there are no airplane in the "Hangar"-tab either. Tried adding new pilot serveral times with no result. Can't figure what i'm doing wrong!

[@PhotonBread]

Any career modes that don’t require an add-on? Like an honor system career mode? I’m on Xbox and just want some structure. I don’t really care if other people cheat, just want more realistic plans for myself

[@KiwiMace]

Hey, an option is the Virtual Pilots Association ( virtualpilots dot org ). Rather than have an app that connects with your sim, it has a manual reporting system where you essentially update your status throughout a flight. It can seem a little complex (geared slightly more towards serious simmers) for a start, but check out the manual and read through the forums and you will pick it up. It has a rewards and promotion system which is fun.

[@PhotonBread]

@@KiwiMace Awesome. This was exactly the info I was looking for. Will check it out

[@smxplays]

seems like FSeconomy client for MSFS is totally broken at this moment. I can't get it connected to either game or FSeconomy server.

[@pltuck1]

Neofly all day long.

[@abstractbybrian]

Does skypark keep track of wear & tear on your aircraft?

[@KiwiMace]

Hey, no I don't believe it does. Skypark is still very much early access, great UI but not a lot of depth at this point.

[@crooker2]

Is there a way to bring any of these apps into MSFS in VR? Or do you need to run the manager on flat screen and pop into VR to fly?

[@KiwiMace]

Hey Dave, Not that I am aware of although to be fair I have only picked up VR this week thus haven't really looked into it that much.

[@crooker2]

@@KiwiMace It's the ONLY way to fly!!! :) Thanks for the channel. Keep it coming!

[@sascenturion]

@@KiwiMace how's the vr experience? 😀

[@pellman87]

​@@crooker2 Did you manage to get it to work in VR? I don't see why not, just start the flight in 2D and press CTRL - TAB to switch to VR.

[@cvlang06]

If you're using quest, go onto desktop view. Manage neofly once done ctrl+tab and you're on your way. Don't even need to take your vr headset off.

[@ashcarey5192]

which is the most easiest one to use i wanna do some flying in VR already got many hours in FS but still the whole nav thing gets me confused

[@KiwiMace]

Hi Ash, I’d say Neofly. Also it’s free

[@ivanfojan8859]

I own onair and the skypark. I love the skypark but I'm not keen on onair. I was spending more time in a spreadsheet than flying with onair, plus the sub model is a bit toxic. A pity I bought a 12 month sub, I only played it for a month and haven't bothered since.......

[@jeffscharpf]

This is good feedback, thanks. I realize I'm a year behind on all of this. Has anything changed with any of these add ons since this video?

[@mercster]

Is paying for a well designed product "toxic?"

[@grub2592]

Anyone know if the XBOX version of flight simulator will have a career mode? Even a simple jobs list would be great.

[@KiwiMace]

Don’t think it will unfortunately

[@jimjasutis5046]

I'm trying to figure out which one is best for the new DC-6. I am thinking maybe A Pilot's Life because you don't have to pay for fuel.

[@KiwiMace]

Yeah that would be an option. It comes down to what you enjoy doing. A Pilots Life is all about recreating the career of an airline pilot (no business management or anything like that) therefore if that's what you are into then it could be the best option.

[@jimjasutis5046]

@@KiwiMace I have used AirHauler and FSEconomy in the past and enjoyed both of them, just not sure if either would fit with the DC-6.

[@mauriciomorro6693]

I have tried some of these career addons and they are fine but I'm guessing at some point I will be looking for a more basic one just ask me what kind of planes I wanna fly and for about how long. Then I get me a mission. No rent, no fuel, no xp, etc. With that been said I'm at 400 hours on msfs and not a single moment of "I dont know what to fly today"

[@martindescoteaux9288]

The skypark

[@nanoman81]

Do any of these have a realistic wear and tear on the planes that actually effect the performance

[@PilotPete]

No, for that it would need to have acess to the aircraft.cfg and change it, but that would not be a good idea to mess up core files of another program. Also, why would a plane loose performance? AirHau,er has you to pay for the 25/50/100hr checks and also for repairs when you land too hard, so thats quite realistic already.

[@nanoman81]

@@PilotPete I was just saying like if you didn’t maintain it well it would. Run like crap or fail. .

[@totenfarmer6645]

@@nanoman81 Still not realistic, if you don't maintain the aircraft it will be grounded, so what Pilot Pete says is more realistic actually.

[@darshodaddelt]

I use NeoFly

[@abstractbybrian]

The problem with these type of ad-ons is that they are to easy to make money. Another thing is when you’re trying to simulate charter aviation your price is per seat. In real life you charge by the type of aircraft per hour, regardless of how many passengers on board. My question is are there any career ad-ons that allow you to do this? Can you generate more jobs by “advertising “?

[@KiwiMace]

Hey you can't generate more jobs by advertising but in Air Hauler your reputation affects how many tickets you sell

[@ninjahamster1312]

Air Hauler or OnAir ? How to pick? They both look nice >.< aaaah

[@samwalsh681]

ive tried to install both onair and neofly, windows 11, little support, neither will actually work

[@beardedlonewolf7695]

Skypark's interface looks beautiful and I love the tablet, too bad it's very early, it doesn't give much more purpose than MFS vanilla except made-up scenarios, everything is still superficial.

[@vinylrabbit7295]

I use AirHauler 2 I think its the most complete career simulator

[@martindescoteaux9288]

If I don't want to have to run a company but just make a career as a pilot is Air hauler good? Thank you

[@jwm7429]

Will AI assist work with all these different mission add ons?

[@KiwiMace]

Hey, I'm not 100%, I haven't tried that myself. Each of these programs has a discord or a forum, I'd recommend jumping on there and someone is sure to know.

[@irishvodka2967]

I wonder if it will be possible to have a career mode with the Xbox version?

[@bobinternationalvocalreact8025]

no

[@beardedlonewolf7695]

We can't have one on PC I doubt you'll get any on Xbox lol.

[@irishvodka2967]

@@beardedlonewolf7695 ?? This video is all about career add ions for pc.. lol I myself play one of then… But yea there’s only a few games that port independent add ons pc to console I’m sure the cost isn’t worth it to most companies

[@bjovers1]

Please say this in kiwi: Im very proud of my deck! My deck is so big and beautiful. I show my deck to my neighbours all the time! 🤣

[@KiwiMace]

Said with a Kiwi accent... "I'm very proud of my deck! My deck is so big and beautiful. I show my deck to my neighbours all the time"

[@brianharmon266]

do these work with the steam edition or is that a waste of time

[@KiwiMace]

Certainly do - I run the Steam edition.

[@lisa-azrabroad4137]

OnAir only allow official planes to be used, no mod planes

[@g_pazzini]

fseconomy

[@onj1112]

Thought you were saying Korea instead of career until about halfway through the video lmfao

[@lukeorlando4814]

-still- waiting for SkyPark to get some progression aspect.

[@KiwiMace]

Im hearing you Luke!

[@lukeorlando4814]

@@KiwiMace I gave up and bought AH2 last week.

[@Voltomess]

I'm waiting for skypark to dd some features like a store where you can buy something for all money you have otherwise there is no point using this app so I stopped many months ago and Idk if they added something but I doubt it.

[@lukeorlando4814]

@@Voltomess oh yea. I forgot I even had SkyPark. Still “fly” every day though.

[@abstractbybrian]

It seems odd that you can’t hire pilots in thunder mode.

[@KiwiMace]

There are other servers which allow you to hire AI pilots. Each server has different characteristics to suit different play styles.

[@matinowski617]

newsky

[@user-jq8cu8lu3p]

i tried neofly and fseconomy. Was not happy with neither of both. Neofly i find way to arcade. I just made one flight with a cub over 50 miles and earned 30k. No one in the world would pay 30k for 50 nm flight in a cub. I undestand why they scaled the payment so high, but realy this is just too arcade and is clearly not addressing realism enthusiasts. FSeconomy, well its okisch but i found it quite boring and its biggest problem its almost dead. There is not much going on in fseconomy world and as a consequence your choices are very poor.

[@wootle]

MSFS missed a trick. They should have taken inspiration from ETS/ATS and given us a game with a baked in career mode.

[@Superdelphinus]

They covered this lots of times in the preview livestreams etc - their view is that they’re creating the base sim platform, not any ‘gaming’ aspects that sit on top of that. I think that was partly to appease all the old flight sim serious crowd who can’t countenance that they’re spending so much time playing a game, personally.

[@wootle]

@@Superdelphinus Oh I see, ok good points. While not ALL of them are like that (need to stress this point) the majority of "hardcore" "simmers" have an overly serious attitude to this genre. If something doesn't require a Phd to get the engine started they dont want to know about it and scoff at it.

[@Sy-T007]

On air is a joke just like all the other subscription based options. They must be dreaming. Never!

[@KiwiMace]

Why?

[@Sy-T007]

@@KiwiMace I can accept Navigraph being a subscription price model for obvious reasons. The idea of making an app such as this so is nothing but a con, well maybe greed. Just my opinion

[@KiwiMace]

Still don’t understand why it is a con? They are up front on the cost and you can decide if the value matches the price. I don’t think they are conning anyone.

[@Sy-T007]

@@KiwiMace well then, it obviously isn't a con for anyone willing to subscribe. It is a con to me so I'm not willing to. Again, just my opinion

[@RivalGrimReaper]

@@Sy-T007 I think you mean overpriced in your opinion, a con is where you are shown an amount, then as soon as you sign up, they then start stating that you have to pay extra to use certain aircraft without prior knowledge. this isnt the case with on air, just using that as an example.

[@ramjet4025]

This not really a Flight Sim review.