Playing Types / Airline types / Strategy settings / Business plan

[swiftus27]

Okay.

Work with me a little bit here.

At the beginning of each game when a player joins, along with the usual standard questions there is an additional question:

What type of airline are you choosing to start?:
Small (For those who want to fly nothing larger than 30-50pax planes)
Regional (For those who are looking to fly in the 0-500nm range)
Continental (Mainly for those flying throughout their home continents)
International (For those catering mainly to long haul a/c).

Here's what you do:
NO CHANGES to the flight types that they currently fly... HOWEVER, you have a distinct disadvantage to flying short haul routes compared to someone else who is flying a regional airline or smaller.

BONUS:  This shouldnt be that hard to model using current data... there would just need to be a multiplier/divider thrown in there.  

OTHER THOUGHTS: Perhaps changing would be allowed, for a fee... I don't know.

Feel free to add ideas.  

[Sigma]

While it would certainly solve some problems, it's about the worst hackjob that one could create.  There's no logical reason why one would suddenly hit a "multiplier" because the route they decided to fly was 450NM instead of 550NM.

If we're gonna fix the problem, let's try to fix it right (or at least as close as we can) rather than hacking some "fix" onto it.  The effort to make costs realistic is far too important of an aspect of this "simulation" (arguably the most important) than to be deserving of something less than a proper attempt to actually fix the problem.

[mideg]

One could try to "hack" CI and RI. One global CI seems unrealistic, what about CI per country? That'd allow for a "home bonus", if you are based in for example Germany, you'd get a CI bonus in Germany.

Then, you could further enhance it by giving you a CI regarding different route types, for example say, you are known to have long haul routes, so your LH-CI is high. Now, if you open up some SH-route, you have to manage with a lower CI (until it rises because you become known).

So, everyone can do everything, but if you focus yourself into one area of business, you can live with lower marketing cost etc.

[Sami]

There is a plan to introduce 'business plans' that would effectively be asked like you presented ("select the type of airline ...") but I've planned it to be a hard limit; without changing the business plan/organization/staffing, you couldn't operate longhaul on a regional business plan.

parts of this ( ^ ) may come in v.1.3, or then not.  

https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,17725.0.html
https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,16156.0.html
https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,18879.0.html

[d2031k]

There could also perhaps be restrictions of the seating allowed.  

Whilst I know it's not a huge element at the moment, preventing specific airlines from using certian types of seating would allow carriers to cater for their market.  For example, long haul operators could be banned from using HD in economy and HD and standard in business and first.  Low-cost type carriers could even be forced to use all-economy aircraft, thus leaving the business and first market for the 'flag' carrier airlines.

This would hopefully assist carriers more attuned to their specific market, as an airline not set up for a particular passenger group would not be able to compete effectively.

[JumboShrimp]

There could also perhaps be restrictions... preventing ... banned ... forced ...

-1

[Tujue]

It would be nice to have these business plans, but wouldn't it be better if we could have something like code share agreements with other airlines (of your alliance) or something like KLM and KLM cityhopper or Austrian Airlines and Austrian Arrows, one airline carriers out regional flights, while the other operates long haul and continental flights. This will also make alliances more useful than they are now

[swiftus27]

It would be nice to have these business plans, but wouldn't it be better if we could have something like code share agreements with other airlines (of your alliance) or something like KLM and KLM cityhopper or Austrian Airlines and Austrian Arrows, one airline carriers out regional flights, while the other operates long haul and continental flights. This will also make alliances more useful than they are now

+1

[JumboShrimp]

It would be nice to have these business plans, but wouldn't it be better if we could have something like code share agreements with other airlines (of your alliance) or something like KLM and KLM cityhopper or Austrian Airlines and Austrian Arrows, one airline carriers out regional flights, while the other operates long haul and continental flights. This will also make alliances more useful than they are now

Yeah, that should be #1 priority in my opinion.

[swiftus27]

another reason for pre-game coordination too!  Think of it, the two of you putting together a masterpiece of short and long range a/c...  one is more turboproppy and the other is filling the cattle on the long haul buses.  Both of them dabble in medium range so in the end they can dominate an airport?!?!??

The ideas really elevate what a few people can really do. 

[JumboShrimp]

Another scenario is that you are in one country, your ally is in anther country.  You bring all the traffic from your connections to his HQ.  He, does the same thing in his country.

[Tujue]

Another scenario is that you are in one country, your ally is in anther country.  You bring all the traffic from your connections to his HQ.  He, does the same thing in his country.

Kind of KLM-NWA joint venture? KLM gets NWA pax and flies them to European destinations, while NWA gets KLM pax and flies them to US destinations.