Tricks to save money !!

[Tenerife]

Lets put together all tricks to save money...
I think this would be very useful, specially in times like this,
with extremly high fuel prices.

So post everything you know!! Even if its only to save 1 USD !
Here are some:

- Fleet commonality (to save on maintanance)
- Scheduling flights between 0500 and 2350 (at night there
are less passengers on your flights)
- Scheduling A- and B-check on saturday or sunday (specially
on saturday, cause there is less demand)
- ...

iCook Airways

[Tenerife]

- Fitting aircraft with max seating!!

[Dazwalsh]

Buy out your fleets once you get big
Put the right aircraft on the right routes, i.e dont have a 50 seater prop on 2x 500nm routes when you can put it on 4x250nm routes.
keep fleet types to less than 5
On each family of aircraft only have one type of engines
carefully compare fuel burn and maintenance of aircraft before you buy/ lease.
Stay away from ALL russian aircraft
dont operate mixed fleets, i.e A320 and 737.
Schedule all routes with a higher than normal turnaround time so that the delay percentage is low (preferably 0 percent chance)
dont aim for 100% load factors, Aim for 85% instead

[Tenerife]

- not taking out to much loans (you have to pay intrest on it + it decreases your company image)

[jamboy2378]

Don't start your airline on Orcas Island

[masoniclight]

Start your C checks earlier if you have a lot of planes so that you dont end up having a lot of aircraft not running at the same time due to the check.. this is what bankrupted me out of game 3!!!

Watch your staff and adjust accordingly.

Go to the Features Wanted section of the forum and petition to have the training of staff be more realistic, i.e., staff training costs should be decreasing if you have good fleet commonality... after all, why would they need more training if your company has the same plane types and same engine types? Doesnt make sense and those costs can be killers!

[demage]

Yeah.

Run your staff manually.  I was losing heaps and had a close look at the staff.  I had about 500 extra staff than required that cost me millions.  I see there is no natural attrition of staff.

Dump your leased planes before the D check.  Leave them for some othe sucker to pick up.

[Dazwalsh]

...and double check that before you take out a lease on a used aircraft that it isnt approaching D check, so you dont end up being that sucker

[demage]

 

Right on.  Make sure your lease isn't half way through when the D check turns up as it will cost you a packet either way.  Get your leases to expire when the D check is due or close enough.

You can lease a plane that has a C check due lets say in 9 months for 1.5 years causing you to have only one C check for 1.5 years of lease.  Works a treat, almost like getting 6 months bonus time and again you dump the plane to let some other sucker take it up but make sure you are not that sucker.

[rickda]

Some great tips here but just note that none of the Tipsters are from the top airlines. I thus guess it is best to keep the real tricks of the trade up ones sleeve.

Chang Air

[Kontio]

Some great tips here but just note that none of the Tipsters are from the top airlines. I thus guess it is best to keep the real tricks of the trade up ones sleeve.

How would you define "the top airlines"?

[charger27]

I see most of the "top airlines" are coming back to the pack.
Magic Carpet isn't in 1st anymore (notice the lack of boasting from him as well lately).
But I also notice ALOT of airlines are going bankrupt now... many of them are not little outfits either.
Which brings me to my point here...

I am getting so sick of restarting my airline... because I have stumbled onto something else I wasn't aware of last time.
I have come to the realization that you are not so much using business smarts, but competing against the parameters of the game.

It would be nice to see some semblance of a detailed manual created as well... not the basics which already exist, but REAL information from the developers that a guy can use once he knows how to punch the buttons.
For instance:
- what is the "age of no return" for aircraft?
What I mean is the references to 20 and 25 year old aircraft is only one phase... I am flying a fleet of planes between 9.5 years and 14.5 years, and what I am finding is if you are just starting out with used leased airliners, any jets older than 12 are going to smother you in maintenance.

- how important is it to configure to at least 2 classes in your aircraft?
I am finding that the profit on "just economy" barely sustains your cashflow compared to my previous where I had Y and C on all domestics.

- what is the best marketing plan, and is it even necessary?
I have run with every form of marketing available. Whether right or wrong, once your airline is established (6 planes in the air) it doesn't seem to make a significant difference if you scale back your campaigns to basically nothing... yes, I've tried and compared.
In fact, it seems that the general campaign is less effective than a 1 or 2 month route specific when beginning a new lane.

Questions like this need to be answered in an expanded manual.
Again, a person could have years of actual experience with airlines... but that knowledge is next to useless unless you know how the game was programmed.

This time around, I was earning more with 4 aircraft than I now am with 8.
Commonality is fine (all the same), routes are stable (actually increased slightly 79% - 96%).
The ONLY thing I have done differently on my latest attempt is allow myself to buy older planes than before.
Since I added the 13 and 14 year old planes, it has sucked the life out of my cashflow AGAIN.

Hey I just want to come here and buy some planes, fly some routes around the virtual world, and have some fun.
This game isn't a whole lot of fun anymore... if I wanted lessons in bankruptcy, I would take a commerce course.
It takes up far too much time trying to figure out the game controls, and fret about having lost "another million" since I last checked... and why the *#$^ did it happen now?!

I came to aws because I have been an airliner fanatic my whole life - I am not some noob that might think a DC9 is bigger than a DC8 because the number is higher.
Bottom line - any GAME that causes more stress than my real job may need to go into the recycle bin. 

[Gaius Marius]

Some great tips here but just note that none of the Tipsters are from the top airlines. I thus guess it is best to keep the real tricks of the trade up ones sleeve.

Chang Air

They're to busy trying to avoid bankruptcy!

[charger27]

Here is a couple of tips I have learned... mostly the hard way.

1. When selecting planes from scratch, know your routes (capacity and distance).

2. North American domestic planes should be configured with Y and C (forget F, the market demand is low).
If you can buy one with a decent config, bonus... otherwise it is a significant expense and an extra week before you get the plane delivered.
Also be aware - when starting an airline (or restarting) DO NOT select a plane with a custom config... your initial plane will only be delivered with a straight economy config (anything else will be erased, which is bogus).
This is especially important if you are looking at 2 planes right away at the start... (if one is customed and one isn't) buy the economy only first, then select the configured aircraft as number 2, then you won't lose the 2 or 3 class config in the secondary plane.

3. Aircraft - critical things to watch when choosing:
a. type commonality... pick a model and stick with ONLY that airliner for at least the first 10 planes.
b. C and D checks... absolute minimum of 9 months left on a C check, and a 5 year minimum on a D check (never do a D check on a leased plane, especially a used one).
If you are considering dumping a plane, make sure your lease is terminated BEFORE an upcoming C or D check.
c. aircraft age... the manual talks about maintenance issues with planes around 20 years - when starting out, any airliners over 12 years old will cost too much to sustain growth.
As with any industry - the bigger and more expensive the equipment, the more it costs to maintain as it wears.
d. engine commonality... while it is money saved to stick with 1 model, it is not a deal-breaker to have more than one engine type - especially if the plane you have chosen is fairly popular (rare to buy in the market).
The big expense is the first one of any type, and the additional engines of the same variety get cheaper with each plane you add.
However and for example, a new engine type added for a 757 is approximately $100,000 / month... there are far more crucial pitfalls to avoid before the engine types.

4. Lower the CEO salary to basically nothing... that is wasted money as it is YOUR salary within the game, and a totally unnecessary expense which is deducted from the airlines much-needed cashflow - and goes where exactly?
5. Keep the other staffing levels to within 105% for operations, and upper management at no higher than 100%.

6. If you know a large expense is coming (C check), and you might or will go into the red for a bit - check your leases... anything that may be up within a quarter (3 month period), renew before the storm hits.
If you are in the glue even a couple of bucks (and a quick loan won't square things up), it is completely frustrating to watch an aircraft be removed from your fleet without being able to do a thing about it.

Those are my painful contributions for the moment.
Hope it helps someone avoid the "darker side" of this game.

[charger27]

It's official - age is a BIG factor when starting out.
I have just made more overnight with my two 8.5 year old aircraft than I did in 2 days with my previous 8 aircraft between 10 and 14.5 years old - average age of the fleet was 12.85 years.

It appears age vs. maintenance is as critical as commonality for the first few planes.