( disclaimer as Hostingpics is about to close, I had to actually upload the images in the forum, so they now appear at the end of the post, sorry for the inconvenience)
Scheduling BasicsHi everyone. Having mentored countless beginners, and having seen the same questions - and mistakes - countless times. So what is a good schedule?
A good schedule, basically, is using the plane to its maximum. A plane makes money in the air, not in the ground. The more blue you have on your schedule, the better. But how to do that?
The other rules to remember are :
_you are penalized strongly in terms of Load Factor for taking off or landing between 0000 and 0455. You are penalized lightly, bit still, for taking off or landing between 2300 and 2355 and 0500 and 0555.
_you are penalized strongly in terms of Load Factor if you take off with less than one hour of difference between two flights on the same route - but only if you have opposition(don't worry, it comes quickly - someone who starts 3 daily flights at 0600 for the same destination has identified himself as a target). This sime span get lower for destinations with very heavy demand. Around 2000 demand, 30 minutes are usually enough between two flights. NB : start time of your opponents is always irrelevant. Just their number of flights is
_you are penalized in terms of delays and cancellations if you don't allow any margin between flights. 737-700 are able to do a turn-around in 40 minutes, but it's safer to aim for 70 minutes.
The first thing to do is to know you fleet. With a 737-700, for example, I know I can cumulate 2200NM per days if I fly twice during the day. Or 1550NM for three flights. Or 900NM for four flights.
Other jet single-aisle aircraft will have similar values. Regional jets are different, as they are usually slower, but with a better turnaround time, so they'll shine on short distances. You can even setup 5 daily very short flights with some of them. I did it with CRJs.
Which means, from Orly, with my 737-700, I can setup 4 daily flights to Strasbourg(217NM), or 3 daily flights to Figari(518NM), or 2 daily flights to Kiev-Borispol(1108 NM). Of course, I can mix destinations, with one flight to Kiev and two to Strasbourg.
Let's have a look at the simple method.
(first image, down the post, the scheduling image)
It's on the upper line, on this image. The F-BABE plane. 3 different destinations. Orly-Cork(456NM), 0520-0605/0720-1000, Orly-Prague(471NM) 1110-1255/1405-1600, Orly-Porto(648NM) 1710-1830/1940-2245
Several remarks on this schedule, which is good, IMHO, but not perfect. I had constraints when setting this up(like my other lines, limited slots, and the fact that Orly closes at 2255). Additionally, it's a port from a 737-300 schedule, which makes it even worse.
1)I'm flying 1575NM. That's just a little bit too much, and explains some of the imperfections. A certain level of imperfections is acceptable. Don't take off at 0200, make a minimum turnaround(40 minutes for the 737-700), and land at 0400
2)The flight to Cork is the most punished. Taking off at 0520 is already punishing, far more than 0550, for example. My load factor is higher on the back leg, and it's not random. Ideally, I'd set up a lower price on the leg to Cork.
3)The turnaround time is important away, but also at home between two flights. This I did respect between each flight. It's important too, as it's very tempting to respect the full turnaround time in the schedule, but to stick 2 flights with only th minimum turnaround time between them. I could make the flight to Cork take off much later(with therefore a much better Load factor on the first leg), but I'd be punished in terms of delays and cancellations. Delays are damaging your image, cancellations are costing you a lot of money.
OK, this is good, but there are juicy destinations from Orly for 737-700 that are much further, and it's a shame if I fly only one a day. What to do? Well, in some cases, you can set up
red eyes flightsA red eye flight, basically, is "take off late in the evening, fly to the East, and land early in the morning". Depending on the relative position of your base, the other leg will be before in the evening or later in the morning. From Orly, most destinations suitable for that are in the Middle east, so you'll be back in the morning. For Boston, suitable destinations are in the West part of the USA, so the red eyes flight is the leg back.
Let's have a look at the F-BABK here. It's flying to Boston from Orly during the night. It works because demand is not too high. If demand were above 220, it would be suicide to set up a 737. But as it's more in the 150, it works, and the plane is full and makes money. It's long for a red eyes flight : 1240-1510/1620-0600. The secret is to add a complement destinations 6 times a week; in this case, Newcastle(408NM), 0710-0750/0855-1135. Not a very good destination, there is a lot of opposition over there, but it's a secondary destination. The plane makes its money on the Boston route, the 12 daily k$ of the Newcastle route are just a bonus.
The important part here is : 6 times a week. Not 7. Because of the A-Check. And the airplane flies 19 hours per day in average. Good use of capital. Not my best plane(very long range 737 routes are never gushing money), but still a good one. Don't start a company with that kind of flights, though. You'll notice some 65 minutes of turnaround, here also, I packed as much as I could.
Note also that the Distance a plane can daily fly is bigger. You have to make a few tries with your favourite fleet group to know it well, and know what distance you can afford daily. With a 737-700, you can notice you're not far from 3400NM for 2 flights
There is a third type of "simple" scheduling, that is not as efficient as the first too(day-only or red-eyes), which I'll call "
sleep-outside". It's inferior, but sometimes, you don't have the choice. Either because you're short on slots around 0600(a common problem for whoever plays in London City, where I learned the technique), or when you already fly 8 daily flights to a destinations, and still have some demand to fill.
The second problem is common in Orly, as it's a domestic airport, with a few key destinations having a lot of demand. So, you already have flights starting at 0600, 0700, and don't want to begin at 0800 because you'd lose too much time. Unless... Unless you make a short flight late in the evening, 6 times a week, with a huge turnaround, around 400 minutes, and you fly back to your base in the morning.
Which allows me to stack one more flight to Strasbourg. Not on saturdays, as I need a night for the A-Check, yet as saturdays have lower demand, it's not a big deal.
(second image down the post)
As you can see, I'm pushing a little bit : 2150-2255/0500-0610. You guessed it, my load factor is lower on the way back from Strasbourg. You'll have strategic choices to make between "more flights", and "better flights"
Anyways, with those three methods, Day-Only, Red-Eyes, and Sleep-outside, you should be able to successfully use all planes up to the "large" size.
For the very large ones, and distances beyond 3400NM, you need advanced techniques.
For reference : my other tutorials :
costs
