Learn how to unlock aircraft in MSFS 2024 Career Mode with licences, ratings, specialisations, missions, credits and company purchases.
To unlock aircraft in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Career Mode, earn the required licences, ratings and specialisations shown on the aircraft or mission, then pass checkrides and complete the listed mission prerequisites. Employee missions provide aircraft; to fly one in your own company, you must also earn credits and buy a Career-compatible aircraft.
What actually unlocks an aircraft in Career Mode?
Career aircraft access has three separate gates: pilot qualifications, the relevant work specialisation and, for freelance operations, aircraft ownership. Clearing one gate does not automatically clear the others, and there is no universal aircraft-unlock button.
| Requirement | What it allows | What it does not provide |
|---|---|---|
| Licence or rating | Permission to operate the relevant aircraft class or equipment | A mission, company or owned aircraft |
| Specialisation | Access to a type of work and its associated missions | The qualifications needed to fly every aircraft used for that work |
| Employee mission | Temporary use of an aircraft supplied for that job | Ownership of the aircraft |
| Company and aircraft purchase | Use of an owned aircraft for compatible freelance work | Permission to bypass licences, ratings or specialisations |
| Game-edition or add-on entitlement | Access in supported modes, usually including Free Flight | Automatic access in Career Mode |
If the progression system is unfamiliar, our breakdown of Career licences, missions, reputation and companies explains how these parts fit together.
How do you unlock a specific aircraft?
The quickest method is to work backwards from the locked aircraft or mission and complete every requirement displayed by Career Mode.
- Inspect the locked item. Select the aircraft, mission or specialisation and read its prerequisite panel. Do not guess from the aircraft's size or engine type; similar aircraft can support different operations.
- Obtain the first licence. Use the introductory training if needed, then pass the Private Pilot Licence checkride. Completing lessons alone is not a substitute for earning the certification.
- Fly employee missions. These supply the aircraft, so they are the practical way to earn credits and record the successful missions, grades or reputation required by later specialisations.
- Earn the listed qualifications. Purchase each required licence, endorsement or rating and pass its assessment or checkride. Some advanced qualifications depend on earlier ones, so inspect the whole chain rather than only the final rating.
- Complete the specialisation requirements. A rating may make an aircraft technically flyable while its mission type remains locked. Finish the exact number and type of prerequisite missions shown in Career Mode.
- Choose employee or freelance access. Continue using supplied aircraft in employee missions, or establish a compatible company and purchase an eligible aircraft for freelance work.
A mistake we see constantly is spending nearly all available credits on certifications and then discovering there is not enough left to buy, transfer, insure or maintain a company aircraft. Employee missions remain the safer route until there is a sensible operating reserve.
Do you need to buy every aircraft?
No. Employee missions let you fly an aircraft without owning it, provided you have unlocked the mission and hold its required qualifications.
Buying becomes necessary when you want to operate as a freelancer through your own company. The company type must support both the work and the aircraft; creating an unrelated company does not unlock that aeroplane's purchase or mission options.
Why is an aircraft still locked?
An aircraft usually remains locked because one prerequisite in its qualification or specialisation chain is incomplete.
- A prior qualification is missing: the final rating may depend on an earlier licence, engine rating or operational endorsement.
- The mission type is locked: qualifying to fly an aircraft does not necessarily unlock cargo, airline, firefighting or other specialist work using it.
- A mission requirement has not counted: failed, cancelled or incorrectly graded missions may not satisfy a requirement that calls for successful completions or a particular result.
- The map is filtered: an unlocked aircraft can appear unavailable when the Career map is hiding its mission category. Clear filters and inspect a wider area before assuming it is locked.
- The aircraft is not supported in Career: owning an edition or installing an add-on does not guarantee Career integration. Our guide to edition aircraft, Free Flight access and Career availability explains this distinction.
- Progress has not synchronised: return to the Career headquarters after a checkride and confirm that the requirement is marked complete. If it remains unticked, allow the online profile to synchronise and relaunch the simulator before repeating the assessment.
How are airliners and heavy aircraft unlocked?
Airliners sit near the end of the qualification chain and are not unlocked merely by accumulating enough credits. They require the applicable advanced licences, ratings, qualifying missions and specialisation; the exact path to the Heavy Airliner rating covers that progression without duplicating it here.
Free Flight remains separate. If you own an aircraft through the base simulator, an upgraded edition or a compatible add-on, you can generally use it there without completing Career progression, but that does not remove Career Mode's qualification, mission and ownership gates.