Your first PilotShift flight: connect the Companion and understand flight verification

What makes a PilotShift career different?

A new career starts without accumulated flying hours. Rather than manually claiming experience, the PilotShift concept links opportunities and qualifications to simulator activity. The website provides virtual career profiles, airline offers, contracts, aircraft training and eligible flight assignments.

An airline contract inside PilotShift is simulated; it is not a real employment offer. A virtual type rating is not a real-world aviation licence. Knowing the difference helps you understand why the simulator session must satisfy the task shown by the app.

Prepare your pilot account and MSFS

• Sign in at pilotshift.app, complete onboarding, and check the simulator and aircraft configuration in Settings.
• Start MSFS 2020 or MSFS 2024 on your Windows computer and load an aircraft on the ground.
• Install and open the PilotShift Companion on that computer. Sign in to the Companion Settings with the same PilotShift account as the website.
• Check the simulator connection indicator before accepting or starting a task. Running MSFS without a connected Companion is not sufficient for flight verification.

How the Companion connection works

The Windows Companion communicates with Microsoft Flight Simulator through SimConnect to observe aircraft and flight state. The authenticated Companion design reports connection status to the signed-in account; earlier versions may instead use a local browser bridge. Connection instructions therefore depend on the installed Companion version.

If your specific build requests browser access to the local device, review that permission for pilotshift.app. Do not assume that a localhost diagnostics address is a sign-in page, and never enter passwords or account tokens into an unfamiliar troubleshooting link.

Choose a starter opportunity and check eligibility

• Review the available starter airline offers and read the contract requirements, aircraft type and training conditions. Do not choose only by brand or salary.
• Accept a suitable virtual contract through the career interface. In some starter paths, aircraft familiarisation is required before subsequent assignments.
• Open the roster or training screen and confirm that it reports the simulator connected and shows the expected aircraft. Resolve missing telemetry before starting a training check.

Worked example: the first familiarisation flight

In the documented starter training flow, select Start familiarisation check, take off in MSFS, remain airborne for at least ten seconds and land. The Companion observes takeoff, time airborne and landing. Once the required events are validated, the training result can add the simulated aircraft type rating.

A familiarisation check intentionally awards no career hours, pay or reputation: it is a training event, not a paid flight. After landing, look for the familiarisation completion and type rating, not a payslip. Requirements may vary between product releases and training programmes; the conditions displayed for the active task take priority.

An ordinary roster or freelance sector is a different task

For a roster or freelance flight, activate the specific assignment in PilotShift before departure, then review its route, aircraft requirements and completion conditions. A regular MSFS free flight is not necessarily an eligible career sector, even when its airports happen to match an available route.

After landing, check the career results or logbook instead of assuming that a connected status alone guarantees pay or credited hours. Connection and validation are separate: the app may be receiving telemetry without the flight satisfying an assignment.

If the flight or landing was not recorded

• Confirm that Companion stayed connected and signed in to the same account throughout the flight.
• Make sure the correct training check or flight assignment was started from the PilotShift interface.
• Compare the aircraft, departure and landing with the active task requirements and record any error or validation message.
• If the result remains missing, contact support with your Companion version, simulator version, browser, route, approximate time and displayed error. Never send a password or access token.

Continue with accurate expectations

The roster guide explains how duty patterns are represented. The MSFS briefing checklist covers preparation, and the virtual-airline comparison guide helps you evaluate simulated employment offers. Use these alongside the built-in Help Center troubleshooting guides when needed.

This walkthrough describes the project's documented feature flows rather than guaranteeing that all game systems are available in every release. It does not replace real aviation procedures or confer any professional qualifications. Check the conditions in the current PilotShift build before relying on a particular action.