Competition on routes

[Filippo]

Hello,

I noticed that when you look up how much pax a route has, you see a blue bar (economy class), a red bar (business class) and a yellow bar (first class).
But when you look at the people that are already serving the route, you just see the total amounts of seats they sell in all classes together.
I would like to see how many seats they sell in each class, it would help as you could choose a more adapt configuration to fit the route.

Is it possible to do this?

[RisteMakedonski]

I think it' just to make the game harder. Just like how we can't view other airline's prices.

[fabio]

Not seeing the prices, he wants to see how many seats people put for each class.

[JJP]

Not seeing the prices, I want to see how many seats they put for each class.

Yes, I completely agree.  This would help on plane configuration decisions.

[Jps]

Yes, I completely agree.  This would help on plane configuration decisions.

And like already mentioned, they are probably hidden to make the game a bit more complicated. Not sure though, if it's intended or just happens to be like that..

[Big Ern]

I like it as it is. You can't see the offered seats on each route. This makes it a bit more challenging and people need to pay attention to pricing.

/BE

[EFHK]

But is this realistic? In real world airlines can easily find out competitors' prices and what configuration they're using.

[Filippo]

But is this realistic? In real world airlines can easily find out competitors' prices and what configuration they're using.

Yeah, I agree.
The only thing is that seeing the prices is a bit too much. I mean, seeing how much seats there are for each class is a thing, but seeing their prices. If you could do that, there will be a competion just based on prices and not any more on company image, that would not have an importance any more

[Jps]

I don't know much about how the aircraft and their configurations are chosen in the real world, but I could imagine that there can be aircraft at different configurations on the same route, and not as static as they are here. Thus, it might not be so realistic to see the configuration, as it probably changes according to how many tickets are sold in each class.

[Sami]

It's not a problem to show it but I am more worried about the graph becoming unreadable.

[bukatino2000]

is it possible to have from the main graph an under-graph opening the configuration of the seats sold (also just for a selected day were of interest)

[JJP]

It's not a problem to show it but I am more worried about the graph becoming unreadable.

Couldn't it simply be the same as what is shown for passenger demand: a bar graph with different colors for each seat type. Set this graph (total supply by all players) right next to the demand graph and then the player's individual supply graph next to that.  I would think that would be very readable.

[Big Ern]

But is this realistic? In real world airlines can easily find out competitors' prices and what configuration they're using.

In real life rotations are swapped depending on sales and a/c availability. So, you really can't find an absolute figure showing how many seats of different classes are available.

[Branmuffin]

It's not a problem to show it but I am more worried about the graph becoming unreadable.

How about this?

(1) Display the amount of each class of seating for the route within the total capacity bar (the green one).
(Users should still be able to mouse-over each part of the green bar to view exact numbers of total C/F class seats on the route)




(2) Display prices for each class of seating, for each airline.

The only thing is that seeing the prices is a bit too much. I mean, seeing how much seats there are for each class is a thing, but seeing their prices. If you could do that, there will be a competion just based on prices and not any more on company image, that would not have an importance anymore.

I agree; to make it a bit more challenging so certain routes don't become micro-managed fare wars, how about displaying a range of the competitor's fares?  How about making the size of the range vary with the number of people you employ in your Route Strategies department?

i.e... the more Route Strategies people you employ, the smaller the price range that is displayed.. hence, you gain a more accurate picture of competitors' prices if you spend more resources on your OWN company

something like this, for example...



This way, you are striking a balance between realism and challenging gameplay: the system doesn't tell you exactly how much the competitors are charging, but it also makes the game a bit more competitive because you have at least some idea of what others are charging.

[Sami]

I kinda like that idea, though I am against of showing the prices. But let's see.

[Filippo]

Branmuffin,

That is absolutely fantastic!

I really like everything of it.

I really hope that Sami does it!

[Big Ern]

I really wish this won't come to the game. It becomes a snow ball, when people try to reduce prices in turns.

Keep it hidden I say!

[Seattle]

However, price really isnt that huge of a facotr. Of course, if you have 5 airlines running 2x daily 747s on JFK-LHR in Y at 125 and only you are running 2x a day 747 with a price of 300 in Y, then you'll see a really big difference, but in general price under cutting isnt that bad.

Great work there Branmuffin!

[blair21088]

No competitor pricing of any kind should be available. even if you do a range of prices people will just undercut the lowest part of the range. Any kind of competitor pricing information will only lead to horrendous price wars that will drive every competitive routes prices down to the bone and will have the effect of squeezing out the little guys as the big airlines will just take the hit. This might happen in real life, but this is a game and everyone hasa  right to have fun.

[thedr2]

I agree with whats been said already. Would like the graph to show the supply of Y,C&F seats, but am completely against seeing competitors prices.