Game Modes

Flatout ATC is several games in one. Here is the map of everything you can play.

Career

The heart of the game: 35+ hand-built airports across 7 stages, from quiet regional fields to the world's mega hubs. Each level is a scored scenario with a goal (handle a set number of aircraft at a minimum success rate). Beating a level earns wings; wings unlock the next stage. Every level can be replayed at four difficulties, and the collections group signature challenges: Mountain Approaches, Mega Hubs, Islands and Coast, Search and Rescue, World Tour, and Carrier Ops.

Highlights along the way:

• Mountain airports (Innsbruck, Telluride, Queenstown, Lukla and friends) where terrain is the real opponent.
• Carrier Ops: recover aircraft onto a moving carrier deck.
• Search and Rescue: fly search helicopters to find and hoist survivors. Sweep the search area, watch the detection ping, get overhead, and hover to hoist, all against a survival clock and your fuel.
• Manhattan helicopter ops: heliports, hospital medevacs, and charters under Class B airspace.
• Oceanic control: the North Atlantic tracks. No radar vectors out there; you manage Mach numbers, track changes, and position reports instead.

The Watch (story campaign)

A three-season scripted campaign: First Watch, The Incident Desk, and The Crossing, seven episodes each. You work shifts with a recurring cast at real career airports, with story events driving the traffic. The first episode of every season is free. Episodes are their own experience: your career ratings and wings are earned in the regular levels, not the story.

There is also a companion book, "Midnight to Six", in this help center.

Live Traffic (Handoff)

Real aircraft, live from the actual sky. Pick a city, pick a position, press Get Now, and the current real traffic over New York, London, or Atlanta loads onto your scope with real callsigns, types, and altitudes. Work arrivals and departures for your airports and hand departures off at the boundary. Before the shift you set your goal (10, 20, 40 aircraft, or custom); reaching it ends the shift with a score and a spot on that city's leaderboard.

Free players get one live shift per day. The base game unlock makes it unlimited.

Ground Control

At Solberg, Scottsdale, and Vancouver you can also run the ground: taxi arrivals to gates, manage pushbacks, sequence departures to the threshold, and keep the fuel trucks and taxiways flowing. Open a level's detail page and choose Ground where available.

Free Play

Every level also offers Free Play for base game owners: an open sandbox with continuous traffic, no score pressure, no wings, and no daily play used. You can even pin the random seed to replay the exact same traffic.

Daily Challenge

One scenario a day, the same for every player in the world. Fly it, post your score, compare. Come back tomorrow for a new one.

Flight Academy

Twelve one-minute lessons that teach every mechanic in isolation. Perfect as a refresher when a new concept (holds, conditional clearances, pattern entries) shows up in your career.