Do Pax perfer certain planes

[swiftus27]

With all things being equal, do passengers want to fly certain types of planes? 

It seems as if they like smaller planes. 

I have some 744Ds and they just SUCK!  I can have $49 flights and it is still empty.  Don't tell me that someone is flying cheaper.   
I have experimented with pricing, seat types, and flight times.  I pretty much get the same result.

[CX717]

They prefer the faster flight,lower price,better time AFAIK.
Did the route have enough demand to fill the 744D?
Lower price does help on LF,but not that much if you put a 744D on a 50pax/day demand route.

[Sami]

They do.. Faster flight time is a + .. also, if we compare 20 year old fleet of an airline, or an airline with brand new planes they are more likely to take the latter airline. And also if all other variables are not taken into account and we compare for example a small turboprop (for example Let 410) and a new jet (B757), they are more likely to fly the jet.

Overall the effect of all these is quite small.

[swiftus27]

I did take almost all of those factors into consideration.

I am just trying to figure out why my 733s on the same route as a 744 (leaving at roughly the same time, too) have very different load factors considering the fact that the 744s have a lower ticket price and better seats.

[Dazwalsh]

time of flight? during peak times you will get good loads but if you fly at night it drops significantly

[swiftus27]

read my post right above yours. 

They are at about the same time. 

My main airport is closed from 23-06 anyways.

[Kontio]

I am just trying to figure out why my 733s on the same route as a 744 (leaving at roughly the same time, too) have very different load factors considering the fact that the 744s have a lower ticket price and better seats.

Could it be that the total travel time including boarding and deboarding gets so much longer with the 744? This is a relatively short route?

[Talentz]

It seems as if they like smaller planes

Before Sami adjusted the small vs big plane calculation, yes, smaller planes would always win out. Using a larger aircraft vs a smaller one, would mean the larger aircraft would lose money ( far lower LF%).

But Sami adjusted this at the start of public. As such, it doesnt have near the same effect as before.


That all said, my near 35 747SR flying US domestic make great money. Almost all are bought and have recouped the money I paid for them years ago (game time).

This comes even with multiple failed attempts by other US carriers to out flood me or undercut my routes. Makes little difference now, then say in the betas where that same tactic would in fact cause me to lose money.


So, as long as your RI is 100 and your CI is very high, you can make almost all your routes work. Given that you have the demand to fill a 747SR 



Talentz

[swiftus27]

I am starting to think that the 744Ds are just too costly for what you get out of them.  Their lease price is approaching double a 743 sr.

[swiftus27]

Could it be that the total travel time including boarding and deboarding gets so much longer with the 744? This is a relatively short route?

Then why design a plane specifically for short routes?  Essentially, the 747 SR and Ds were made to be cattle cars.

[jagalubnan]

(leaving at roughly the same time, too)

Maybe that's why?

[Unbornio]

I am starting to think that the 744Ds are just too costly for what you get out of them.  Their lease price is approaching double a 743 sr.

Never lease the big planes, buy them.

[Powi]

My 744Ds earn as much as my long haul 744s. They even fly same routes as my 734s. But this is in Japan.

744D is much better than 743SR in Japan because it needs less runway. 743SRs' pax load is runway limited in many Japan airports.

[Gwaneum]

Never lease the big planes, buy them.

Roger that. Leasing 24 new 747s for quick expansion did me in during Game 2 when fuel tripled in 2000.

A 3-week C-check for a 747 will cost $1.5 million in lease alone - and that plane is NOT making any money, so the true cost is closer to $3 million. Multiply that by 24, and I am losing $72 million.

I won't be playing again until the new games start up in a month. I'll only do short-term leases on small numbers of the heavies, with the intention of outright purchase at the end of the lease. And more importantly, I'll run a large fleet of smaller aircraft (owning many of them, of course) to make sure that I am making enough money to afford the heavies. Launching too many long-hauls, and leasing too many heavies to do it, was what killed me.