737-700er

[mikk_13]

Does it make any money flying 3000NM+. I can't see it being worth the investment of 80 mil.

[EYguy]

You might see a sense in flying medium range routes with low density

[mikk_13]

so it makes good cash for the 80 mil investment?
It would have to mkae over 400,000 a month.

[ICEcoldair881]

so it makes good cash for the 80 mil investment?
It would have to mkae over 400,000 a month.

you wouldn't pay for an aircraft in a single year. it's however long it takes. 

even when you buy a LH plane and you're making $2,000,000 a month, you still won't pay for it in a year because that would mean you only make $24,000,000 in a year, and LH planes are AT LEAST $150,000,000. it's not about investment, it about servicing customers. the more you serve, the more you make. that's how you judge whether or not you need a plane in your fleet.

ICEcold

[schro]

Running a business is not about serving passengers, its about making a return on the investment of the owners of the business.

As the air transportation industry is very capital intenstive, its very important to figure out how much money you can actually make from a particular type of plane, and then compare it to what the plane costs.

Looking at the 737ER from a capital investment perspective, I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense unless you're already flying 737's and have a particular mission need that needs the range and the lower capacity.

It appears that it can be configured 10C/108Y, which is a rough ballpark of 60% the capacity of a 757, which I think is the direct comparison to consider when selecting the planes.

My best owned 757's without F seats will turn in about 1 million per week in operating profit (before considering overhead, etc). If the 737ER has 60% the capacity and is serving a similar stage length, and assuming all other things are equal, you'd see it turning in about 600k/week in profit for your best routes.

Of course, all things aren't equal.  As a rough ballpark, the 757 burns about 40 pounds of fuel per passenger per hour and the 737ER burns 53 pounds per passenger per hour (assuming a full load of pax), which would further eat into your profits. Of course, your total trip costs are lower, so you'll lose less money with the 737. On the plus side, if you have a fleet of 737NG's, then your overhead costs will be significantly lower than operating a separate fleet type. Turn time is also much faster, but if you're doing long and thin trips, this really isn't much of a consideration.

A new 757-200 with max range will run 88-90 million...

At the end of the day, for the earning potential associated with a 737ER compared to spending a slightly higher amount on a 752 doesn't make it an attractive investment in my mind from this game's perspective.

When you consider the real world perspective, very few airlines are buying these models - typically charter/private jet organizations and PrivatAir, who is paid by LH to run an all business class operation to IAH (you'll see articles saying they're using the 737BBJ, which is basically the same thing).  Ultimatly, in the real world, long and thin routes don't typically work very well - travelers aren't willing to pay a fare premium to have a direct flight.

[Talentz]

Which is very correct Schro. The 737ER is a niche aircraft best left for filling odd routes and/or when you have nothing better to do.

Its not ment to be the center piece of your route strategy. Treat it as such.

You can turn a profit with it though, As I have in the past. But its not a worth wild profit...



Talentz

[EYguy]

Anyway, we're talking abotu real world and this game engine is not modelled after real world... A/cs as the A319 are comparable to the 737 and lots of airlines use them: maybe the won't fly the route evey day, in order to bank lower pax demand, but that a/c is used by many airlines in short to medium routes and by BA on long haul routes (LCY-JFK)...
As Schro said, the only way I could profitably operate such an a/c is having an already existing fleet of 737NG and serving a route with a pax demand a lil higher than the a/c capacity, and also setting 5 or 10 seats for business class!

[Mahon]

I personally wouldn't touch it at the moment. In the current games, its seating capacity is bugged. Ditto the 737-900ER.

[ICEcoldair881]

but that a/c is used by many airlines in short to medium routes and by BA on long haul routes (LCY-JFK)...

BA uses an A318 actually. and it has a fuel stopover in DUB and I think BOS, so it's not direct.

[drew1971]

BA has a fuel stop at Shannon.

Only on outbound, not inbound.

[schro]

I never said that you couldn't turn a profit with a 737-700ER - My point is that you get a significantly lower return on investment in the plane compared to other planes (the 757 was my direct comparison).  Using it for long and thin is most beneficial to your shareholders when you've already maximized the amount of assets/fleet/routes that would return a higher ROI prior to embarking down the 737-700ER path.

The 737-700ER directly competes with the A319, and the 737-600 directly competes with the A318. BA's LCY-JFK route is all business class, just like the PrivatAir service that I mentioned in my prior post. The fuel stop in SNN is because of winds and a fully loaded 318 needs more runway than LCY can provide.

[lilius]

I personally wouldn't touch it at the moment. In the current games, its seating capacity is bugged. Ditto the 737-900ER.

Yes the 900ER could be a good sub for the 757 but in this game it only seats 168 passengers
Does anyone know why?

[mikk_13]

Yeah that really sucks.

I would replace my entire fleet of 737-400 and 757s with 737ng but i can't since there is no point. There is very little advantage due to the limited capacity.

[schro]

Yeah that really sucks.

I would replace my entire fleet of 737-400 and 757s with 737ng but i can't since there is no point. There is very little advantage due to the limited capacity.

I think there's room in a fleet for both 739's (with correct capacity) and 757's.  I fly my 752's on long/thin routes, such as across the pond or out to Hawaii, and typically use 3500-3900nm of range with them.  They are great for these mid ranged thin routes, especially compared to the A310 and 762 at that stage length.  753's are great for moving a ton of people for a low amount per seat - all my major domestic routes (and a few TATL routes) are using these to move people.  The 737 line can be used for lower demand areas and so on, but I've simply chosen the MD90 as its cheaper to operate on a per seat basis (once capital costs are figured in) than the equivilant 737NGs (which would really be a midpoint between the 738 and 738).  This mix of the M90 and 757 family have proven to be quite profitable for me... moreso than I think the 737 family could be for me

[Mahon]

Yes the 900ER could be a good sub for the 757 but in this game it only seats 168 passengers
Does anyone know why?

Just old data. Sami says it'll be fixed in new games of that era.

[EYguy]

To be honest, some of the routes operated with large a/c but with a mediocre pax demand are sometimes subsidized by government grants.
SAS serves some of the northrnmost destination in Sweden and Norway and I can't believe they get some profit on those flights... I was on an MD-80 something with 30 pax coming down from Kiruna to Stockholm and one of the f/a told me that the flight is seldom fully loaded and it is operated because the company gets money from the government... I think it would be nice to have such a thingy on this game! :-D

[lilius]

Just old data. Sami says it'll be fixed in new games of that era.

Thanks Mahon  

The 737 NG will be the obvious choice for me now.