Hi everyone,
as a Rookie how just entered a Beginners World of Airway Sim, I just tried a couple of things out before heading to the new GW4.
I had 1 A318 and 2 CRJ900 totalig kUSD 415 and - apart from expanding those types - wanted to try out some small cargo plane. So I went for a Saab 340 (and at the same time was delivered with a new CRJ900). As I read about commonality I expected it to rise, but look at the results:
- My sole A318 jumped from 211k to 810k.
- The 3 CRJ900s jumped from 204k to 875k.
- The Saab is at 386k.
So by adding one fleet with 1 plane and another plane my costs increased from 415.000 USD to 2.070.541, so
approx. 500 %! And we are not talking about 4 fleets, but only 3!
Just to take one example that shows how crazy this is: Crew training for the A318 (still the one, not more) jumped from 57k to 230k! For the same crew and the same plane! Sorry, but that does make no sense at all...

As far as I read the commonality is there to avoid big airlines buying every kind of aircraft and then dominate the market. I get this for "bigger" fleets that means everything above 50 planes or so. It should be there to save noobs like myself. But if I look at those figures above you will lose lots of "young" airliners by sending them into bankruptcy...
For a more personal note: I would really like to create a airline with several different types of aircrafts - not to dominate all markets, but to have different kinds of types. It is somehow frustrating to see that I have to focus on 2 or 3 plane types. It even gets me thinking if I really want to spend money for the game - which I really want because i love the economical simulation.

Suggestion: Increase maintenance costs only with growing numbers within one aircraft type. E.g. Lufthansa still has one old Junkers Ju 52 flying. This should cost only the base maintenance for that plane plus some admin overhead. If I start building more than 3 fleets with each fleet more than 5 planes or so - perhaps even depending on aircraft size - start increasing costs dramatically. But not as early as it currently is.
Cheers,
Dagobert