Lessons Learned- A Guide To Newcomers

[mykalberta]

Just a note for route planning.

This is an excellent point. I find its best to look at airlines skeds to see where they fly and where from.

Its not a perfect model because of hubbing in real life, but it can be a good starting point, especially if you arent familiar with the area.

My most successful game was in the beta where I bankrupted out of YYC (my home) and MIA - and went to PTY. from there I had no competition and and a great place to fly from. You just have to tepid your expectations. i wont be flying 747 to HKG from panama city, but I was able to become crazy profitable, enough to try flights to Europe, CAI, Lebanon etc.

[mykalberta]

As a newbie to AirwaySim(a little over 2 weeks now) I found that this advice is so true. To me in real life leaving an airport at 2 am isn't very good but my CRJ100's make at least $2,000 a flight doing this. That is better than nothing at all. Daytime flights usually average $9500-10,000.

If you are leasing its ok to run the planes into the ground, if you own them I wouldnt suggest it personally.

[Jack007]

I know it's very tempting to start from a very popular hub, but you can make good profit even from hubs that don't seem so popular (50% - 60%).  If you don't want to be hammered with competition, choose a hub that isn't at the top of the list (80% - 100%).  Find routes that have mediocre demand (250 - 700 demand per day) that no one else is flying. 

In order to enjoy good load factors, do not overload the route with capacity.  If the route only has a demand of 300 seats per day, make only one flight per day (depending on the aircraft you choose).  Use that airplane to fly a couple of different route with around the same amount of demand.  If you provide only ~half the capacity of the demand for a route, your load factors will be much better than if you provide 100%+ of the route demand.

What type of aircraft?  Make sure you choose aircraft with at least 100 seats.  Aircraft with fewer seats may be tempting (cheaper leases, maintenance, less crew, fuel, etc.), but these aircraft will not provide the necessary profit for your airline.  The airplane's direct costs will be more than covered (and the aircraft will show a profit), but the plane will not be able to generate enough revenue to cover your airline's overhead (salaries, marketing, etc.). 

When choosing aircraft, be sure to scrutinize all the numbers.  Not all used aircraft are created equal (even the same exact type of aircraft).  Be sure to view how much your A, B, and C checks are going to cost.  Used aircraft have HUGE differences in maintenance costs depending on type, age, hours flown, and number of landings. 

Be patient when leasing aircraft.  Have an idea of what you think is a good bargain (based on cost, age, etc.) and stick with it.  Your airline will do much better in the long run if you are using good, decent aircraft instead of anything that comes along.  Also, look into changing the config on aircraft to get some business seats (C class) thrown in.  Yeah, it costs a little more to reconfig, but you can make bank with those C-class (charging up to 3 times as much as coach!).  Make sure the routes you're going to fly have business demand, however!

Hope this helps! 

Ok I understand that. But how can I figure out, how much money is needed to also earn enough money to cover the overhead cost. All my aircraft generating good profits with loadfactors between 85% and 95% and a routeimage of 100, but I am still loosing money. Who can help?

[rgss]

 Really stunning Sim guys!!!, excellent work!!  

Incredible features, and, at least for me, unknown realism in an airline sim, great job!!

Just a thing, I missed a more detailed view of the hourly slots at the airports, to make a more swift flightplan, without having more than 2, maximum 3 departing flights every 5 minutes (in Vegas), and not crowding them all at the turn of the hour and therefore (I guess...) causing delay already at the beginning of the day and at your own home base...
Could be something like the airport info tab, but with the possibility to see the departures sorted by time and not by destination..., just an idea..., maybe this is possible in the full version which I want to try soon.. anyway, great!!

  For Las Vegas (KLAS) starters, I must say that Vegas was just a run , and I would recommend a very small regional fleet of ATRs or similar ac for the 5-15 small reachable and suited airports, something like ~4 ac schould be more than enough for the "light" job.
In addition, a main 737 (or similar) fleet. More than 70 737s can be filled relatively easy from Vegas!!!, but without big competitors, and if possible with the more economical /17 engines, and many of them with extended ~2000NM range.
This is important, as it enables you to fly to nearly all relevant and cash generating east-coast destinations. At least 80 north american destinations can be flown from Vegas with the 737s with reasonable profits per aircraft.
And finally the A300 for the main routes to LAX, ORD, ATL, DFW, IAH, JFK, MIA, DTW, DVX and in support of possible emerging routes that demand more capacities, like MCO, EWR and so on...
More than ~20 A300s can also be filled relatively easily with satisfactory load factors from Vegas, in adition to the ATR and 737s fleets...
A generous marketing strategie is one key to filling them up, and no big competition, as I think I already commented ...
 Big business class demand routes are for the airbusses, that generate the big $ you need at the start. At least that was my "strategy".

Good luck every one!

And Again, Congratulations for the excellent Simulation!!!

Cheers rgss

[TheRightSide]

Very nice thread with good info. I did awesome in the demo version plenty of $ coming in, and plenty of planes quickly. But not in my current real game. Granted I started very late in this game. Im trying to be "patient" ha im not in the red. Just use my current game as practice I suppose. I can't wait to start out fresh and new with everyone else once a new game world starts.

[Maarten Otto]

Every time you sign up again you learn new tactics and understand the game a bit better. In time you even might want to try out complete other forms of operations or set other goals for yourself.

[Knos]

Very nice thread with good info. I did awesome in the demo version plenty of $ coming in, and plenty of planes quickly. But not in my current real game. Granted I started very late in this game. Im trying to be "patient" ha im not in the red. Just use my current game as practice I suppose. I can't wait to start out fresh and new with everyone else once a new game world starts.

I would just like to second this. This thread has been an awesome source of info and I have found myself in the same boat (plane ) in doing well in the demo and coming in late into the game in beginners world 7. Patience is the key, but I would also like to add that if there is a competitor flying a route taking all the pax, dont be afraid to fly in and give it a go. Of course you will have to lower your prices a bit and spend a bit on marketing, but it appears pax in the sim like in the real world, like competition. That said, I dont think I would try it with over three competitors on the same route. For me at the moment, there is only me plus a big competitor, but I am turning a profit. So dont be afraid to give a go, but also find other routes that will help support your price war. Just my little bit to add.

[jneil121]

Every time you sign up again you learn new tactics and understand the game a bit better. In time you even might want to try out complete other forms of operations or set other goals for yourself.

Exactly, MT2 is where I am now, and every other game I have played I flew either Airbuses or Boeing's. So in ATB I'm trying something a little different by flying a regional Q300 and Q400 operation out of a regional airport in China. May I say that it is quite a different sphere of operations!

[raptorva]

One thing I must say for those just starting out is to look carefully at the turnaround times for large aircraft. Sometimes they can go up to 2-3 hours on the larger, older designs if you try to reduce delay chance to 1% so remember to do your aircraft comparing before you just lease. That tool is there for a reason and it is one I use on an almost daily basis

[JumboShrimp]

One thing I must say for those just starting out is to look carefully at the turnaround times for large aircraft. Sometimes they can go up to 2-3 hours on the larger, older designs if you try to reduce delay chance to 1% so remember to do your aircraft comparing before you just lease. That tool is there for a reason and it is one I use on an almost daily basis

Yup, there is more to speed than mach or knots....

[swiftus27]

^^^ dont use 752s domestically!

[ArcherII]

^^^ dont use 752s domestically!

Why not? I found that by using 752 and, mainly, 753, I would need at least one less aircraft if the route is good enough. Sure turns are nearly 2h but they deliver! Plus, you are using an aircraft with 767-capacity but nearly 30% less fuel. The 753 burns 15kg of fuel per passenger vs 14kg of a 739, and carries 50+ more passengers.

[JumboShrimp]

^^^ dont use 752s domestically!

Nothing are exactly black and white.  753 is better.  If you are in an airport that is slot constrained, you have to take that into consideration.  If you are somewhere at the edge of the continent, 753 might be a good option.  For short distances - 757 line would not be my first choice.

[swiftus27]

Why not? I found that by using 752 and, mainly, 753, I would need at least one less aircraft if the route is good enough. Sure turns are nearly 2h but they deliver! Plus, you are using an aircraft with 767-capacity but nearly 30% less fuel. The 753 burns 15kg of fuel per passenger vs 14kg of a 739, and carries 50+ more passengers.

Remember in this game:

Pax prefer frequency.   It doesnt matter if the plane holds more.  When you competitor flies two 737s on that route, he will have 66% market share.   Again, I said domestically these things suck.

The two hour turn time is simply not recuperated unless you have no competition and there are few slots. 

Right now, you can easily "win" at an airport by soaking up the slots with F100s and AVROs and flying against the larger planes.  You will find that flying 3 F100s will kill a 752.

Lastly, I dont see cargo (except the self loading variety).  I think AA uses 757s in order to move more freight than it does people.

[ArcherII]

Yes, you're right about frecuency. I also forgot to say that I'm based in the US west coast, and demand to East coast is huge and without 75x wouldn't have the posibility of overtaking those routes.

[JumboShrimp]

Speaking of 757s, on my last trip from LAX to JFK, I took United 757 that they converted to what they call Premium Service:

http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6867,50964,00.html?jumpLink=%2Fps

They fly these between JFK and LAX or SFO.  Looks like it has 12F, 26C and 72Y seats based on the description (I miscounted the Y seats when I was on the flight because of some funky row number sequence).  The seat pocket said it is 3 series, which I guess is 300.  From the seating configuration, you can imagine the leg room everywhere including the economy section.  They may be using some extra space for cargo, but the leg space in the economy section was the most generous I have ever seen.

[swiftus27]

...and with fewer people up top...

...there is more room below....

[ve3]

So I built a second base in YBBN to try my hand at some international routes (none available from YSCB). Turns out, large aircraft (big enough to fly international distances) are ridiculously expensive to run (for my airline at least!). At the worst of the endeavour I was losing around $3-4 million a week!

Luckily, I managed to salvage the airline after a few more blunderous attempts at generating a profit operating YBBN.

Here's what I learned:

• Even if it says it will cost you $20M to open a new base, you really, really, really have to take into account the operating costs. Expect to be paying a lot more staff, especially if you're investing in new airplane types. If you can't afford to keep it open, close it.
• You can't terminate a plane lease if you're in the red.
• If it's become too expensive to operate a leased aircraft, fire the pilots you use to fly it and cancel all maintenance on it. Hopefully you can absorb the lease fee while your other aircraft get you back into the black so you can terminate the lease.
• Don't be afraid to fire staff if you've got too many and reduce wages a bit to get you back into income/week. Although I took a huge image hit (down to about 10 from 50), my LF% didn't take a huge hit, and my routes remained profitable. I went from $3M a week in wages down to $1M, and this was the biggest moneysaver for me. I saw more delays than usual but I was spared any staff strikes.
• Loans can be your friend. Paying $50,000/month to the bank is better than paying $90,000/month in lease fees to an airplane broker.
• Don't be afraid to scale back your marketing. If you're losing company image due to staff cuts anyway then it will take some time to bring it back up anyway. Cutting general marketing in half saved me a huge chunk of cash. Route marketing should probably be cancelled altogether if the routes are already profitable.
• There's a lot of personal satisfaction to be gained from bailing yourself out of a blunder and seeing those weekly totals in green again after a month or two in red. Your mileage may vary on this one.

Hopefully this will help some other airlines out. Personally I'm having a lot of fun running a regional airline instead of trying to be an international carrier. I tried it out and found your HQ will greatly affect what sort of airline you end up playing. Limited route options can force you to seek out routes with smaller passenger yields, which generally are competition-free.

[glycerine]

Hello i've a simple question.

When the game area that our company operates in ends,what happens to our airline?Do we have to start all over again in a different world?

[JumboShrimp]

Hello i've a simple question.

When the game area that our company operates in ends,what happens to our airline?Do we have to start all over again in a different world?

Yes, you have to start in a new game world.  But the full game worlds last long enough - longer than Demo games or Beginner Worlds.