Lessons Learned- A Guide To Newcomers
masoniclight:
Quote from: JJP on January 15, 2009, 12:54:38 AM
I have noticed that there are certain popular times of the day people like flying. Your load factors will be somewhat higher than at other times. You can let it ride (enjoying higher load factors) or slightly increase your rates for that flight. You'll have to play with the price to find the best profit (price vs. load).
On the flip side of the coin, there are some times of the day that are not so popular for people to fly. You may need to slightly decrease your rates for these (late night/early morning) flights.
Well there's Red Eye flights in real life... I guess there should be in Airwaysim too ;D
swiftus27:
My addition:
Patience is KEY! Things in this game evolve over days and weeks of real time. DON'T expect huge results after an hour of game time.
masoniclight:
And if you do fail.. try again.. after all, you get three chances (three bankruptcies).. don't be afraid to use them.. of course, there are us (meaning me) who has used up ALL my bankruptcies but hey.. Im still a game newbie hehe.. no worries.. Ill be patient and wait for game 3.
masoniclight:
ALSO! dont ever be afraid to ask Sami, Talentz or any of the number of the guys who playtested the game in the first place.. I have so much thanks to Sami and Talentz who really helped me learn what I was doing wrong as a CEO.. I will be able to put their knowledge and advice to work in the next game.. Im excited! so again I say, dont hesitate to ask the experts here, they are great people ready to help.
JJP:
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!
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