Unable to make a profit

[Ilyushin]

I'm running a Tu-154M Vnukovo - Frankfurt right now. There's plenty of demand, I decreased the default price, 160, to 100 USD. I fly this route twice a day, yet I get 25%-35% LF. I have a marketing campaign running. There's no competition at all.

What's going on?

[RushmoreAir]

What is the fuel price now in Beginners' World?  Tupolevs will kill you if fuel is above 180-190.

Also, how is your Route Image?  Go to Office > Route Image and look up this route.  If it is under 50%, you won't make money.

How's your Company Image?  What's your marketing campaign?  If you are only using newspapers, It's not enough.  Your CI needs to be at least 30 to get any reasonable amount of pax.

Your prices are too low.  Prices don't matter too much in this game, especially if you don't have competition.  Raise it to 130 or 140.

One other thing to check is the technical condition of your aircraft.  Go to Aircraft > My Aircraft and select the airplane flying this route.  You'll see the aircraft's condition.  If it is under 70%, that's too low and is causing the low LFs.  Go to Maintenance Actions on the same page and select repair aircraft.  Only repair it to 85 or 90%, otherwise it includes C & D checks and gets expensive.

What are your flight delays looking like? Go to Routes > Flight Delays and look at your punctuality.  If your on-time percentage is below 75%, that's a problem.  If your cancellations are above 3%, that's also a problem.  If you have these problems, look to see what is causing it.  If it's due to scheduling, than add turn-around time to your routes.  If it's due to technical problems, the condition of your aircraft is bad.  Repair it as stated above.  If it's due to lack of staff, add personnel at Office > Personnel Office.  If it's due to staff strikes, raise the wages at the personnel office.


All of these things can be causing the loss and low LFs.  Check these out and you should find one violation.    That's your problem.

[Ilyushin]

What is the fuel price now in Beginners' World?  Tupolevs will kill you if fuel is above 180-190.

Also, how is your Route Image?  Go to Office > Route Image and look up this route.  If it is under 50%, you won't make money.

How's your Company Image?  What's your marketing campaign?  If you are only using newspapers, It's not enough.  Your CI needs to be at least 30 to get any reasonable amount of pax.

Your prices are too low.  Prices don't matter too much in this game, especially if you don't have competition.  Raise it to 130 or 140.

One other thing to check is the technical condition of your aircraft.  Go to Aircraft > My Aircraft and select the airplane flying this route.  You'll see the aircraft's condition.  If it is under 70%, that's too low and is causing the low LFs.  Go to Maintenance Actions on the same page and select repair aircraft.  Only repair it to 85 or 90%, otherwise it includes C & D checks and gets expensive.

What are your flight delays looking like? Go to Routes > Flight Delays and look at your punctuality.  If your on-time percentage is below 75%, that's a problem.  If your cancellations are above 3%, that's also a problem.  If you have these problems, look to see what is causing it.  If it's due to scheduling, than add turn-around time to your routes.  If it's due to technical problems, the condition of your aircraft is bad.  Repair it as stated above.  If it's due to lack of staff, add personnel at Office > Personnel Office.  If it's due to staff strikes, raise the wages at the personnel office.


All of these things can be causing the loss and low LFs.  Check these out and you should find one violation.    That's your problem.

The current average price of JET fuel is 248 USD / 1000 kg.

The route image is 0. It is a new route.

My company image is 5.12, I am a new company.

Alright, I increased my prices. I really hope it won't affect the LF.

The punctuality is just fine. I have enough turn-around time so the chance on delay is ~1%.

My aircraft's condition is 84%.

Thanks alot for your help!

[RushmoreAir]

Sounds like you just gotta give it some time.  Your CI and RI will improve over time, and in a few game months, you'll be making a profit.  

Oh, and make sure you watch when your Tupolev's D check comes up.  Make sure you have enough cash saved, or ditch the aircraft before then.  

Good luck!  

[Ilyushin]

Alright.

Don't worry, I'm getting more familiar with the game and I know what to look for when buying an aircraft.
I know the Russian birds are gas guzzlers, but I simply love them. They're a must-have for me.

I also have a Tu-134 on order

I think when this game world ends, I'll go to the Jet Age. Do they have Russian birds there too? Ilyushin Il-18 perhaps? Would be sweet.

Thanks for your help!!!

edit: Do you know if the Il-62 is profitable with the fuel prices I told you? It doesn't carry much passengers... I am speaking of long haul flights.

Thanks!

[RushmoreAir]

Alright.

Don't worry, I'm getting more familiar with the game and I know what to look for when buying an aircraft.
I know the Russian birds are gas guzzlers, but I simply love them. They're a must-have for me.

I also have a Tu-134 on order

I think when this game world ends, I'll go to the Jet Age. Do they have Russian birds there too? Ilyushin Il-18 perhaps? Would be sweet.

Thanks for your help!!!

I love the Soviet birds too.  I have 50 AN140s on order in the Alliance Challenge. I'll be the only player to operate any of the soviet aircraft.

My first game was the "original" jet age, and I started with 5 IL18s out of Chicago.  I did great!  Until fuel started spiking, when I b'rupted and went to a Boeing operation out of the caribbean.

[Ilyushin]

Sounds sweet! Nice order there.

Is the fuel price the same world-wide, or is it cheaper in Russia?

And you missed my ninja-edit of my previous post:

edit: Do you know if the Il-62 is profitable with the fuel prices I told you? It doesn't carry much passengers... I am speaking of long haul flights.

Thanks!

Thanks

[RushmoreAir]

Sounds sweet! Nice order there.

Is the fuel price the same world-wide, or is it cheaper in Russia?

And you missed my ninja-edit of my previous post:

Thanks

The fuel is the same worldwide.

And I've never actually flown the IL62 on longhaul, but I hear that it is quite a money-loser.  That could just be fluff, though.

[Ilyushin]

Any idea where I can get an Il-96? None on the used aircraft market in the beginner world. Why is that? Has the production ended and did nobody order it?

Would that make a good long-haul airliner? I don't know its specifications.

[RushmoreAir]

The IL96M would make a great airliner based on the specs.  The -300 might not, as it requires an extra pilot and burns more fuel.  Try it out anyway, though.  I was curious, too.

You'll have to order one new, but if you lease it, it shouldn't cost too much.

[Ilyushin]

I'm afraid it's not in production, but thanks anyway!

[Ilyushin]

Ah well. I bankrupted (again) and chose Zurich this time. Leased a MD-82, going to run Zurich - Munich. No competition...
I will wait before ordering another a/c. I will miss my Russian bird

I just didn't believe in it so I bankrupted.

[Daemus]

I will wait before ordering another a/c.

I may be completely wrong on this (waiting for input from one of the big guys in AirwaySim) but waiting isn't the way to go if you have the demand for another plane, money in the bank to do it, and aren't looking at making fleet changes. If you can afford the same plane type, or one with at least some commonality (keeping overhead down with commonality seems to have a heavy impact on whether you succeed or fail from what I have experienced), get it making you money. Bank interest on positive balance should be less than you can make running planes, otherwise no-one would buy planes if they were shooting for making the most money.

[ucfknightryan]

I may be completely wrong on this (waiting for input from one of the big guys in AirwaySim) but waiting isn't the way to go if you have the demand for another plane, money in the bank to do it, and aren't looking at making fleet changes. If you can afford the same plane type, or one with at least some commonality (keeping overhead down with commonality seems to have a heavy impact on whether you succeed or fail from what I have experienced), get it making you money. Bank interest on positive balance should be less than you can make running planes, otherwise no-one would buy planes if they were shooting for making the most money.

I don't know if I would count myself as one of the big guys, but you are correct.  As a newly started airline, if you can afford to lease and schedule an aircraft that has commonality with your current fleet, you generally should.

When you lease a used aircraft you pre-pay the first four months of leasing costs, so those expenses are not currently showing up on your income statement.  One aircraft is not generally enough to cover the fixed expenses of running an airline, so you need to get additional aircraft leased and flying in that four month window so that you can continue making money once the leasing bill for the first aircraft comes due.  

One warning though, your payroll comes due in full every Tuesday instead of being evenly divided over the week like most other expenses, make sure you will have enough left in your account on Tuesday to pay that expense.

Another point about commonality: engine commonality is not nearly as important as fleet type commonality.  The engine commonality costs aren't nearly as high as fleet type costs, and IIRC they don't scale with the number of engine types you have.  When the leasing market is tight, don't pass up an otherwise useful aircraft just because it has RR engines and all your existing aircraft have PW engines.  You can always replace it later when you order a new aircraft or when the type is more plentiful on the used market.

-Ryan

edit: fixed grammatical error

[Ilyushin]

Alright, my fleet consists of 2 aircraft now. 1x MD-82 and 1x ATP.
I leased another MD-82 which will arrive in 2 game weeks.

I am looking for more ATP's, though...

[Daemus]

I don't know if I would count myself as one of the big guys....

.... have you seen your own forum signature? 

To us beginners, you are more than big enough to count yourself as "one of the big guys".

[ucfknightryan]

.... have you seen your own forum signature? 

To us beginners, you are more than big enough to count yourself as "one of the big guys".

  You're right, by that standard I suppose I would count as big.

[swiftus27]

darn, Im 'small', then.

[RushmoreAir]

I think the correct definition of "Big" would be

Aircraft * Routes * Forum Posts/"Age" of player (when registered with AWS).

[ucfknightryan]

darn, Im 'small', then.

lol, you were one of the people I was thinking of when I offered the disclaimer that I wasn't one of the big guys.