Fleet types at second base airport

[Chaxterium]

Hello,

I'm looking at possibly opening up another base. I'm currently operating two fleet types, F100 and ATR72. If I open up a second base do I take any commonality penalties if I base 1 F100 and 4 ATRs there? Or should I try and stick with just one type until I get some larger numbers at the new base?

Cheers,
Chax

[exchlbg]

There is a 15% "penalty" added for commonality costs for all aircraft you will put on additional bases.
So sticking to your already flown types would be the answer in the first place.

[Chaxterium]

That's not quite what I was asking. I'm not going to adding any more fleet types.

Lets say you're starting a brand new airline. Starting out with two different types of aircraft is not a good idea until you have a good number of planes right? So starting off with, for example, 1 F100 and 4 ATRs is not smart. My question is if I start a new base with 1 F100 and 4 ATRs would that mean a similar penalty as if I was starting off the new airline with 1 F100 and 4 ATRs? Or does it not matter because I already have decent numbers of both?

[LemonButt]

I think he is misunderstanding the penalty.  If you have 100 aircraft at your hq and 3 aircraft at your base, the 15% only applies to 3 aircraft versus 103 so your commonality costs will really only rise a few percentage points.  The costs that make operating bases expensive are the huge number of extra staff you have to hire, especially as you approach the max number of bases.

[exchlbg]

I answerded your question, but sadly you did not get my answer right. The 15% penalty appears regardless if you only have one, two or three new or existing models there. It comes on top of the usual commonality costs, which will rise if you open up a new family.
So it is irrelevant if you have only one or more fleets at new base, it´s usual costs +15% overall per plane abroad.
Lemon by the way is right, those commo costs count nothing against those other additional costs you have with staff, marketing, base rent and one time opening costs.
Or, explained in an other way:
Commonality is calculated per overall fleet, not per base.

[Chaxterium]

You guys still aren't understanding what I was trying to ask. I am NOT adding any new fleet types.

So sticking to your already flown types would be the answer in the first place.

That's exactly what I'm doing.

I have two types, F100 and ATR72. On my new base I was thinking of basing 4 or 5 ATR72s there. Now, if I was to put 1 F100 there as well, would that hurt me at all? Would having 1 F100 and 4 ATR72s be worse than having 5 ATRs? Again, I'm not talking about a new type. I already operate F100s and ATR72s. My thinking was that if I stick to just the ATR72s at the new base then my company only have to have spare parts and manuals for the ATRs whereas if I put even just 1 F100 there then I need manuals and spare parts for the F100s as well which would make my commonality costs go up, no?

Commonality is calculated per overall fleet, not per base.

Ok that response helps. That's more of what I was asking. According to that, if I already operate that type, it doesn't matter what types I put at any of the bases? Is that right? Lets say for example that I operated 10 types overall. If I opened up a new base and put one of each type at the new base, would that affect commonality? Or would it not matter since I already operate those types anyway? Do you see what I'm getting at?

Cheers,
Chax

[exchlbg]

I see it from the first question on, but you are quite hard to talk to.
The answer is : it does not hurt your commo where you put your planes at, it may be one of each or single fleet type.
I said it before and say it again:
System calculates commo costs on WHOLE FLEET basis.
After that calculation is done, it puts an extra 15% on every plane that is not based at home.
It only matters how many types you fly overall, not per base.
I can´t find any more way to make that clear.

So just go for it, the other costs of an additional base will hurt you a lot more anyway.

[Chaxterium]

My apologies. I'm not hard to talk to. From your responses I thought that you thought I was asking about adding a completely new fleet type to the new base.

Either way you've cleared it up nicely. Thank you for your help!

Cheers,
Troy

[Chaxterium]

So let me ask you this: Since commonality costs increase slightly when you open a new base, is it dangerous to open a new base with only a few planes there? Should I wait until I have a large number? I've never been in a position to be able to open a second base so I'm completely new to this.

Cheers,
Troy

[ArcherII]

It depends on the size of the base. What I do is to turn a base profitable first (you can check it at the income statement revenue vs turnover), you can base up to 100 airplanes but never turn a profit out there, and base 30-some airplanes at another base and be comfortably in the black.

[exchlbg]

I always hesitate to do it because of the large investment, the last opening happened just by coincidence, wanted just to calculate costs, pushed a wrong button, and welcome at new base !
To answer your question: system requires three planes minimum but tolerates if you start flying with two and wait for the third to be delivered for a short while. Don´t sit on a large number of idle planes at home to wait for that perfect moment.
If you have two planes ready and a third coming, go for it !
Of course you should at first check, if your existing home has no more possibilities to expand. New base must have a lot of fitting demand so it pays off the extra costs.

[LemonButt]

So let me ask you this: Since commonality costs increase slightly when you open a new base, is it dangerous to open a new base with only a few planes there? Should I wait until I have a large number? I've never been in a position to be able to open a second base so I'm completely new to this.

Cheers,
Troy

It also depends on your fleet.  I currently have 3 bases (1 HQ + 2 bases) in North America Challenge.  I have a single fleet of 91 CRJ (aka gas guzzlers) with 43 in CVG, 30 in STL, and 18 (and growing) in MCI.  My fleet commonality costs are $2.9 million for the aircraft and $1 million for the engines, so I pay relatively nothing.  I also don't fly routes more than ~500 miles, saving on marginal fuel costs.  Using this strategy, I'm earning $6-9 million in profit each week on ~$65 million in revenues, which is pretty stout.

Basic rule of thumb is don't open any new bases until you've met all the demand at your existing hubs.  If you have routes to fly out of existing hubs, no point in throwing away money to chase rainbows at another airport.

[Chaxterium]

Thanks again for all the advice! I might go for it once I've gained some more capital and can afford the large upfront costs.

As it looks right now I've definitely maxed out all the routes at my current HQ with only 15 planes. The problem is that I started my airline well into the game world so I wanted to pick an airport where no one else was based. I found KAUS which has been nice but I filled up the demand quite quickly. So now I'm looking to expand but I'm going to run into the same problem at the next base I open. I'll look for an airport that has no other airlines based there and then I'll probably run out of routes quickly. I don't really mind though, I'm still just trying to learn the ropes. So far so good. I've managed to stay in the black. I must say I love the F100. When I started my airline I initially looked at a number of different jets but nothing compared to the F100's fuel burn. It's been a great choice so far. I'm surprised I don't see more of them being used.

Anyway thanks again for all your help!

Cheers,
Chax

[exchlbg]

You might also look out for an airport with another, but weak competitor, who doesn´t fly any of the kind of routes you are going to.
He should not have a lot of money to change his fleet strategy quickly to go after you.