Starting To Get Discouraged

[Icelandair0416]

I am starting to get a little discouraged. It seems like every airline I try to start ends up going bankrupt. I probably would have left the game already if it wasn't so addicting! Does anyone have any advice for new players, or just players that are having troubles with having successful airlines? Many thanks!

Sincerely,
Icelandair0416

[Sami]

There is really no single advise like "do this and then that". It's a combination of VERY MANY different things.. So you have to explain a bit more what you've been doing

[Unbornio]

Iceland, avoid competition. Lower your CEO (you) salary to 0.

Probably the basic things you should know 

[Dorito_25]

Iceland, avoid competition. Lower your CEO (you) salary to 0.

Probably the basic things you should know 

Does that really work! Nothing is affected if you lower the salary!!?

[maya666]

Only the salary change of the CEO doens't affect anything. The other one's do. so you can raise or lower your CEO salary to whatever you want.

[Sami]

yep as CEO pay is basically 'your' salary.

[Jona L.]

yep as CEO pay is basically 'your' salary.

so, what use does it bring?!!
seems as this is only static!

one little tip:

try to get the biggest plane, you can get, even if you have to take a loan right from the beginning! and choose no too small airport!
I like to start with 747 if available!

good luck!

[Icelandair0416]

OK, well I do lower my salary to zero. For my base airport I try to choose one that has not a lot of competition, so I am currently based at MSP. Once I find my base airport I lease usually 2 to 3 used aircraft, right now I have three 727-200Adv aircraft. I try to choose routes that have minimal competition as well. Then I just let my airline do business without me interfering, usually at night. When I check it the next day I am almost always negative in account balance. I leave my prices at default if it's any help.

[Kazari]

1. Only choose routes that will fill your planes up. If there are none, choose smaller planes. Passengers generally prefer smaller planes, I believe.

2. Make sure your planes are flying all the time unless they are in maintenance. Sometimes that conflicts with 1. I put the time between flights to about 10 percent lateness rate.

3. The more routes per day your planes fly full, the more money you will make. If you can find a milk run from MSP -- DET, for example -- get in there and dominate it; lower your fares a bit (I initially do 25 percent and gradually raise it). By virtue of having the most seats on the route, you will get the most business eventually. Casual competitors will drop out.

4. For short routes (under 500 NM), propeller planes are equal to jets, cost less to get and use a lot less fuel. In a high-density situation -- MSP-DET, for example -- you might use medium jets to maximize the number of times a day you can make the trip.

5. Leasing is expensive; make sure the plane you choose isn't really old so you have both leasing costs and high maintenance costs. For the first few planes don't sign long-term leases so if you make some money you can spend it.

6. Fly your planes 24 hours (except for 5 hours/week for A-check).

7. Put the staffing on fully manual and don't give raises until the percentage is at 80 or below. Even then, do it group by group. Fire anyone you don't need.

8. Spend money on marketing as much as you can afford. Not for route marketing (unless you're entering a competitive route). Just general marketing. TV kills you; if you can afford 3 marketing types and not TV at worldwide, for example, do that. Also, you can have more than one general marketing effort (depending on the size of your airline).

[Lamantijn84]

Use ONE type of aircaft first one or two years!
On the used aircraft market, lease a type that has enough of it on the market, and stick to it for some time (till you start making profit). It will keep your maintenance costst down (as an average per aircraft). Later, when you earn good money, you can of course lease more than one type, but having only one type saves you a lot of money!

Real world example: Ryanair!
Only has 737's. Is probably the airline with the highest profit margin in Europe!

When you just started an airline, it's quite helpfull not having 5 aircraft all of a different type!