When you first start a game of Pocket Planes, a tutorial will guide you through the steps to begin.
Pick up Jobs
A message will appear, explaining that you need to pick up a job. Tap Continue.
A button will be glowing in the bottom-left of the screen. It has an icon of an airplane on it with a green arrow going up, as well as some people and boxes depicted below the airplane. Tap this button.
You'll be told how many passengers and cargo this plane can hold. Tap Continue. Now tap the glowing Load button to pick up the passenger. You'll then be asked to pick up the cargo. Tap Continue. Tap the glowing Load button to pick up the cargo.
You'll be told that the plane can depart now that it is full. Tap Continue. Then tap the glowing button with the airplane and up arrow.
Tap your destinations
A pop-up will explain that the destinations for the jobs that you picked up will be pulsing on the map. It will mention which city to tap first, so tap Continue, then tap the glowing city. Next, tap the next glowing city on the map.
Now tap the glowing Fly button to take off.
View your Plane List
You can now tap the glowing plane icon to see your list of planes. The top plane in the list will be glowing. Tap it.
Choose Where to Start your Airline
You can now tap a location on the world map where you will start your airline. The choices are Southwest US, Northeast US/Canada, Central America/Caribbean, South America, Europe, Africa, Japan, and Australia.
Start Playing!
Now you are free to explore the features of Pocket Planes. You can fly planes, buy new cities for your airline, and much more.