My aircraft disappeared

A lease ended and the lessor took it back. It takes every route assignment with it, so a run of expiries can leave a lot of routes with nothing to fly them.

You are warned at 45, 14 and 3 days out, and each notice names the routes that aeroplane is working. Renew on the fleet card extends the term and keeps the rotation, so nothing has to be reassigned — the rent is re-quoted against what the airframe is worth now, which on an older aeroplane usually means it falls. A lease runs to two years at most, so renew nearer the end rather than the day you sign.

An aeroplane leased from another player cannot be renewed from your side: it is theirs, and they are owed it back on the day the term says. Ask them for a fresh lease once it has gone home.

Leasing is the right way to start — it is cash you do not have to find up front. Just watch the end dates.