Frequently Asked Questions

Headwinds is a free multiplayer airline management game that runs in your browser. Worlds are shared, persistent and live on a server clock, and every rival airline belongs to a real person. Most questions people ask are about what that actually means in practice — so that's where this starts.

Getting started

Is Headwinds really free?

Yes. The whole game, in your browser, with nothing to download and nothing to buy. There's no premium currency, no paid fleet, and no way to spend money on an advantage — which matters more in multiplayer than it would in a solo game, because an advantage you could buy would be an advantage taken from another player.

Do I need an account?

Yes — one quick sign-in with Google or an email link. Because worlds are shared and persistent, your airline has to belong to something more durable than a browser: signing in is what lets the server keep your airline running while you're away, and lets you pick it up from any device. The fair play rules ask you to keep to one account, since one-person-one-airline is what makes the standings mean anything.

What's a world, and how do I pick one?

A world is a shared map with its own clock, its own economy and its own set of airlines — up to 50 of them, all played by people. You join one from the lobby, name your airline, choose a home airport and start flying. Worlds differ in how far along they are and in the settings they were created with, so it's worth looking before you commit: a young world means empty territory and a fair race, while an established one means the best hubs are already claimed but there's a functioning economy to compete in from your first week.

Can I play in more than one world?

As many as you like — one airline in each. Running two airlines inside the same world isn't allowed, because the obvious uses for a second one all involve cheating somebody else.

Does it work on mobile?

Yes. It runs in a mobile browser and installs to your home screen as a web app. A big network is more comfortable to manage on a larger screen, but checking your debrief, answering messages and reacting to a rival's move all work fine on a phone — which is often exactly what a live world asks of you.

How a live world works

What happens while I'm offline?

The world keeps going. Game weeks advance on the server clock whether or not you're signed in, so your aircraft keep flying, your routes keep earning, your bills keep arriving and your rivals keep making moves. When you come back, the debrief tells you what happened.

This is the single biggest adjustment for players coming from solo games. You are not pausing a simulation; you are running an airline that operates continuously. The practical consequence is that decisions with long tails — deliveries, hub construction, maintenance checks — should be set up before you log off, not left waiting for your next session.

Do I have to be online constantly to compete?

No, and the design deliberately doesn't reward it. Nothing in Headwinds requires reflexes or clicking speed: the things that decide a world are network shape, fleet discipline, pricing judgement and who you're allied with, all of which are decided over game months rather than seconds. A player checking in once a day, thinking carefully, and setting their airline up properly will comfortably beat someone refreshing constantly without a plan.

How does saving work?

There's nothing to save. Your airline lives on the server and is written continuously, so there are no save files, no exports, and nothing to lose to a cleared browser cache. Signing in from any device picks the world up exactly where it has got to.

Can I play offline?

No. Headwinds is a live multiplayer game and needs a connection. The world runs on the server regardless, so nothing is lost while you're disconnected — whatever happened is waiting in your debrief.

Competing with people

Another player moved onto my route. What do I do?

First, don't reach for the fare slider. When two airlines fly the same city pair, the demand model splits passengers on fares, frequency, quality and reputation — and of those four, fares are the one that hurts you as much as them. A fare war against a human is attrition, and the deeper treasury wins it.

Better answers, roughly in order: add frequency, so you win schedule preference without wrecking the fare environment you both live in; lean on cabin quality, reputation and a mature loyalty programme, which hold your premium passengers while the challenger discounts to fill seats; and open the messages tab and talk, because plenty of contested markets end in a quiet agreement about who flies what. The rivals & alliances guide goes through this properly.

Can I see what my rivals are doing?

Yes, and you should. The standings rank every airline in the world by market cap with routes, fleet size and alliance shown, and any airline's profile opens its full route network, its fleet by type, its hubs and its recent moves week by week — leases, orders, routes opened and closed. A rival taking delivery of widebodies is telling you where they're going next. They can see the same about you.

How do alliances work?

Any airline can found one from the lobby and name it; the founder approves or rejects join requests, and an alliance holds up to eight active members. Members feed each other connecting traffic, get a demand boost on routes where a partner also flies, and earn interline revenue on itineraries crossing member networks — against a weekly membership fee that keeps the decision honest. Every alliance gets a private board, and the alliances that win worlds are the ones that use it. If a founder stops playing, leadership passes to the longest-serving member, or the alliance disbands.

Are deals between players enforced?

No, deliberately. Truces, market carve-ups and non-aggression understandings are yours to make and yours to break; the game won't hold anyone to a promise. That's fair play, not foul — but worlds are long and people remember, so your reputation among the other players is a real asset. What isn't allowed is using deal-making as cover for harassment or for coordinating a second account.

Can I lose my airline?

You can go bankrupt, which is a real risk and the reason overexpansion is the most common way new players come unstuck. You can also lose access for breaking the fair play rules — cheating, abuse, or running multiple airlines in a world. Short of that, an airline that stops flying doesn't get deleted; in worlds with gate scarcity turned on it does start losing gates, since gates left unused for 24 consecutive weeks return to the pool and lock you out of that airport for another 24 weeks.

How do you win?

Each world runs for a fixed span of game-years and ends with final standings. Getting to the top of them means having out-flown real people, not an algorithm — which is the whole point. Along the way, board objectives and the weekly rankings give you concrete things to chase, and your position relative to the rivals you're actually competing with matters more than any absolute number.

Gameplay

How many aircraft and airports are there?

163 real aircraft, from 19-seat turboprops to Concorde, and over 1,500 real airports with demand driven by actual populations and distances. The aircraft guides list every type with its in-game seats, range, lease, price, fuel burn and maintenance cost.

What's the best starter aircraft?

Whatever matches your first routes — but in Headwinds there's a second consideration that doesn't exist solo: stay inside one aircraft family if you can. Maintenance bases are certified per family, and a standby reserve can only cover a grounded aircraft of the same type, so a tight early fleet is cheaper to protect as well as cheaper to run. Fleet planning covers it.

Why is my route losing money?

Usually one of four things: the aircraft is too big for the demand and flying half-empty; the fare is set where nobody wants to buy, or so low it doesn't cover trip cost; the sector is too short for the aircraft to earn against its fixed costs; or a rival has moved in and you're now splitting a market you sized for yourself. Check the last one first — it's the one that doesn't exist in solo games and the one players miss. Route economics works through the maths.

Should I lease or buy?

Lease early, buy later. Leasing keeps cash free while your network is still finding its shape, and cash is what lets you react when a rival forces a decision. Buying makes sense once a route is proven and your treasury is deep enough that a large outlay doesn't leave you unable to respond to anything for a game year.

Support

Someone is behaving badly. What do I do?

Use the Report button in-game — it sends the details along with who and where. You can also block any player you'd rather not hear from. The fair play rules set out what crosses the line.

I found a bug — where do I report it?

The Discord is the fastest way to reach us, and it's also where the changes get discussed before they ship. Please don't farm an exploit you've found — tell us instead, and it gets fixed.

Is there a solo version?

Yes. Tailwinds is the single-player game Headwinds is built on: the same simulation, at your own pace, against computer-run competitors, with no sign-in and no clock running while you're away. Plenty of people learn the economics there and then come here for the part where the rivals answer back.