What really IS frequency ?

[Zabuti]

Hello all

I have one basic question on Frequency. Based on in-game experience, as well as what's discussed here in the forum, Frequency is EVERYTHING !

But, I see two types for frequency. The first one is basic : you have a rooute with 800 pax available, better put 4 or 5 A321 than 2 A330 to serve it : faster turnaround and more frequency to secure the route against competition.

But there is another type of frequency in this game. Some players put 1 plane (say B773) on a route, but instead of seeing

Method 1

12345-7 IJU3421  1800 2200 B773

you see
Method 2

1------ IJU3421  1800 2200  B773
-2----- IJU3422  1800 2200  B773
--3---- IJU3423  1800 2200  B773
---4--- IJU3424  1800 2200  B773
----5-- IJU3425  1800 2200  B773
------7 IJU3426  1800 2200  B773

So, exactly the same supply, but the second one looks to have more frequency (although it does not).

Does the system makes the difference against competition ? (route numbers are different !), or is it the same for both methods ?

Thx for the update

Flobacca

[swiftus27]

Total Demand / Total flights

If demand is 1000 and there are 10 flights going between them, then roughly 100 people will fly each plane.  This assumes all things are equal.

There are modifiers for CI, RI, Ticket Price, Seat Quality, and Time of Takeoff/Landing. 

The 1.3 change makes two very closely departing flights 'look' like it is just one plane.  So the equation above doesn't have another flight added to it and those two have to share a smaller piece of the pax pie.

[Kadachiman]

I think they only use the 2nd approach to make changing flight times easier / cheaper somehow..when they upgrade the plane serving the route???
But would like to know if this is actually the reason.

[GDK]

those using 2nd method is to make sure the plane is fully utilize and no route is sacrificed once a week for A,B check.
it is much more difficult to handle these routes and if you plan to upgrade your fleet, it will b a great project of the millennium for the airline.

[Par Avion]

Indeed. If you do the second method, you can just plan out the whole week for one plane (with about 21 separate flights), then keep recreating all of the routes moving the day forward by one each time. If you then assign those to 7 planes, you can get fleet utilization a little higher because you can have exactly 5 hours left over for the A-check. It's a headache to organize, and almost impossible to change, but it does allow you to get a slightly more efficient utilization, provided you do it right.

I would suggest it only if you're adopting a new fleet, of at least 7 planes, and you plan on using that grouping for the rest of the life of the gameworld.

[Zabuti]

Thx for these answers

So if I understand correctly, these two approaches have the exact same effect on frequency/competition ?

(I prefer the 1st method since I don't have time to plane routes one after the other... but if I get an advantage out of that, I'll do it !)

[Par Avion]

Yeah, both methods have the same frequency - 7 weekly flights = 1 daily flight as far as frequency is concerned.

[Brockster]

it is much more difficult to handle these routes and if you plan to upgrade your fleet, it will b a great project of the millennium for the airline.

Especially if you're upgrading MD80s to A320s. 

[Sanabas]

Especially if you're upgrading MD80s to A320s. 

That one's easy, since they use the same turn time and the a320 is slightly faster. All you need to do is click edit route and change the plane type, and you're done. No need to plan out a new schedule, cancel & recreate routes, etc.

[ArcherII]

That one's easy, since they use the same turn time and the a320 is slightly faster. All you need to do is click edit route and change the plane type, and you're done. No need to plan out a new schedule, cancel & recreate routes, etc.

Still, a hazardous job. And I don't do it except for LH schedules. You can gain 1 hour of utility if done correctly yet improvable, but IMO you can live without it just fine.

[Meicci]

I used 7 day scheduling in DOTM2 at old planes, which I knew I was going to replace. What a huge mistake. It took around 10 minutes just to change the routes to new, similar aircraft. I lost my temper after just few planes, and quit the game.

Lesson learned, and now I ain't using it in NA/Europe Challenge. Expect for LH-routes, because I think it's quite important, if you want to utilize planes well. SH doesn't really matter. And it saves A LOT of time when it's time to replace fleet.

[diskoerekto]

For LH routes, 7-day rotational is a must in my opinion especially when one flight and its return takes more than 24 hours. For SH routes, it quickly becomes a clickfest. I had Fokkers making 5 flights a day and on 7-day rotational this means 30+ routes for EACH plane and I had a plethora of Fokkers. So many sleepless nights clicking and clicking and clicking.

But knowing everything is super-efficient is worth all. Despite having so much props and mainly flying SH, I was always in top 3 (mostly 1st) of the fleet utilization stat.

[Brockster]

That one's easy, since they use the same turn time and the a320 is slightly faster. All you need to do is click edit route and change the plane type, and you're done. No need to plan out a new schedule, cancel & recreate routes, etc.

If you want to have good plane utilization then you are missing out on a few hours and you can probably squeeze an additional flight in to the schedule, hence why it wasn't easy.