Maintenance Advice - Please

[Karl]

I have participated in another online airline business simulation, and I understand that to be successful an airline operator must learn and understand the quirks of the program being used.  However, I always have the problem with realism versus making simulation money.

Do you substitute aircraft that are in C & D checks, or do you ignore them and let their routes remain idle for the 2 or 4 week period? 

Finding substitute aircraft is a challenge and costly, and it is time consuming to keep track of what is happening to a big fleet - not to mention the time and energy it takes to move schedules.

On the other hand, what kind of credible airline (even in a simulation) routinely takes aircraft out of service leaving passengers with no transportation?   

Advice, please.

[forsberc]

unless you have hours to kill, don't worry about the C checks. Your aircraft will be done with them before you know it.

The D checks are longer, but depending on the aircraft, my answer will change. For small-large aircraft, I don't move/swap schedules. However, when using Very large Aircraft, and the D checks are in 120 day range, I would consider it. Honestly, I depends on how large my fleet is and if those routes aren't very contested, I wouldn't worry about it then either. I'm rather lazy when it comes to that. By not swapping, sure profits will drop a little, but for the time savings, I deem it ok.