Why is AI traffic not showing in FSX after installing WOAI?

In Microsoft Flight Simulator X (FSX) and FSX: Steam Edition, WOAI traffic usually fails to appear because the sliders filter it, the package went into the wrong FSX folder, an FS2004-format BGL is suppressing traffic, or the required AI aircraft are missing. Test first with airline traffic set to 100%.

Match the symptom to the likely WOAI fault

The pattern of missing traffic usually identifies which part of the installation has failed.

How to fix WOAI traffic not showing in FSX

Work through these checks in order; each result narrows the fault without requiring a complete FSX reinstall.

1. Raise the correct traffic slider. Set Airline traffic density to 100% while diagnosing an airline package. Set General aviation traffic density to 100% as well if you are testing GA traffic. Flight plans can carry a minimum traffic percentage, so a valid flight is omitted when the slider is below that value.
2. Use a reliable test airport and schedule. Load a stock major airport that the installed WOAI package actually serves, not merely one the real airline serves now. WOAI uses compiled offline schedules, which may represent a historical timetable. Try several simulation times and days, and enable aircraft labels temporarily.
3. Close and restart FSX. Do not test a new traffic file only by returning to Free Flight. A full restart ensures that FSX reloads the active scenery and traffic BGLs.
4. Verify the simulator target. Boxed FSX and Steam Edition can be installed on the same computer, and an installer can write to the copy you no longer use. The correct root is the folder containing the fsx.exe you launch. When reinstalling, follow our WOAI installer instructions for selecting FSX and the original package archive. If the expected files are absent, the installer either used the wrong path or lacked permission to write there.
5. Confirm that both package components exist. AI aircraft normally belong under [FSX root]\SimObjects\Airplanes. Compiled traffic .bgl files normally go under [FSX root]\Scenery\World\Scenery, although they can also work in the Scenery subfolder of another enabled scenery area. Our breakdown of a complete WOAI package explains why both the aircraft and flight-plan files are required. Raw flight-plan text files alone are not read by FSX.
6. Rule out an FS2004-format traffic file. If the installer offered FSX and FS2004 or FS9 targets, reinstall the package for FSX. Move the suspect traffic BGL to a backup folder outside every active scenery area, restart FSX and check whether default traffic returns. Do not delete the file while testing.
7. Test legacy-model display settings. If labels are present but aircraft are invisible, turn off Aircraft casts shadows on the ground. Also disable DirectX 10 Preview temporarily. Some older AI models render poorly with those options even though their flight plans are running correctly.
8. Compare stock and add-on airports. Test the same package, day and time at both. If it works at the stock airport, the WOAI installation is sound and the add-on airport needs attention.

Why did default FSX traffic disappear after installing WOAI?

An active FS2004-format traffic BGL can suppress FSX-format aircraft traffic, including the stock schedules. FSX can use legacy traffic files, but it does not mix the two traffic formats cleanly; one old-format BGL anywhere in an enabled scenery area can cause the problem.

The .bgl extension does not reveal its format. The practical test is to move the most recently installed traffic files outside the active scenery folders, restart FSX and restore them in small groups. If native traffic returns after one file is removed, reinstall or replace that package with an FSX-format version.

A duplicate native-format BGL more often creates duplicate flights than no flights. A manually installed file with the same name can, however, overwrite an earlier schedule. Our guide to isolating conflicting FSX traffic files covers the same BGL conflict pattern in a custom-traffic installation.

Why are AI labels visible but the aircraft invisible?

If an aircraft label is moving around the airport but no model is visible, the traffic BGL and schedule are already working. The fault is in model rendering rather than traffic generation.

Legacy WOAI-era models can disappear when aircraft ground shadows are enabled, particularly while they are parked. Disable Aircraft casts shadows on the ground, reload the flight and test again. DirectX 10 Preview is the next setting to test because older models and textures were not always built for it.

A white or untextured aircraft points instead to a missing texture folder, an incorrect texture= reference or an incompatible texture. No label at all usually sends the diagnosis back to the schedule, BGL or missing-aircraft checks.

Why does WOAI work at one airport but not another?

If WOAI traffic appears at a stock airport but not at one custom airport, the custom airport's AFCAD-style layout is the likely cause. FSX needs suitable free parking and a valid runway and taxi network for dependable ground traffic.

• The parking radius may be too small for the AI aircraft.
• The available stands may use unsuitable gate or ramp types.
• Broken taxi links can prevent normal departures and ground movement.
• Two airport-layout BGLs for the same airport may be active at once.
• A scenery update may have removed or reduced usable parking.

Airline parking codes mainly influence where an aircraft parks; a missing code does not normally erase all traffic by itself. Lack of a suitably sized free stand is more serious: a departure may not spawn, while an arrival may disappear after landing instead of parking.

What if only one WOAI airline or aircraft type is missing?

One missing airline or fleet type usually means that its AI aircraft entry is incomplete, not that the FSX traffic system has failed. Check the relevant folder under SimObjects\Airplanes for an aircraft.cfg, the referenced model folder and the required texture folder.

Compiled traffic plans call an aircraft by the title= value in aircraft.cfg. Renaming that title after installation breaks the reference, even if the model files remain present. Restore the package's original entry and also check that its model= and texture= values point to folders that exist.

If several airlines are missing, inspect what they have in common. Packages installed during the same session suggest a path or permissions error; one absent fleet across an otherwise working airline points much more strongly to a model, texture or configuration fault.