Over-staffing game mechanics?

[Wayfarer]

Gentlemen,
I have been in and out here for many years and every time I try to start a new , small airline, I get into the same trouble and I think the whole game mechanic about staffing is totally unrealistic and makes the possibility to start in a small scale impossible!
Maybe it is realistic for a multi-national airline 2020 but  in the 1950's with 3 DeHavilland Dove's??
I have been involved irl in the air taxi/charter/ambulance flying business as F/O and seen all these entrepeneurs who started with a single , used aircraft. Often, the CEO was Captain , Economist and sometimes even a mechanic himself.
We build up and did run Viking Air and Swedish Air Ambulance from Gothenburg, Sweden with one Piper Pa31P Navajo, a Piper Cheyenne and 2 Beechcraft Super King Air 200 of which 1 was hired in. We had 1 CEO, 1 Flight/Staff manager, 1 flight op's manager/coordinator/economist, 4 Pilots, 4 Cabin crew, and 1 mechanic. That was in total 12 employed personell and we flew 1000's of patients every month, of course on the limit of crew duty time regulations, but still..
I know, this was ambulance charter but I can not believe that a similar setup for a scheduled line operator would need much more staff than this, except for the baggage/ground handling and check in's, which normally would be arranged by an airport supplier and charged as an extra cost.
Right now, I am in GW "History and the future" and I was hoping that this Sim had developed more so that it would be possible to start a new airline as they did in those days, but oh no.. This game is not ment to be realistic I guess?
I started with 2 used DeHavilland Heron 1 , 4 pilots and 0 cabin crew. Opened 5 relatively short routes with flight time < 3 hrs, without competition and with good px demand. And what happened with staffing when I added one more Heron and 2 more routes, in total 7 routes??
1 CEO
2 High level management
3 Middle management
4 Economics/finance
3 Corporate communications
3 Human resources
2 Qualiity department
2 Safety and security
12 Customer services
6 Flight operations
6 Technichal services
11 Ground handling
6 Route strategies
13 Pilots small
76 total employed!
I feel these staffing game mechanics are totally unrealistic and is killing every attempt to start a small airline in the 1950's. I mean, the meaning of running a short-haul, small a/c airline is multiple destinations with 10-20 px. Right now, after 1 year I have 35% of my total expenses in staff salaries with only 3 a/c and 7 routes and I don't know how to make a profitable business with these conditions.
Having been away for a few years I still feel the same frustration and don't know how to survive.
Correct me if I am wrong but I feel strongly "Somezing wrong im kartong" here!..
ps. What will happen if I sack the "dead flesh" onboard and go only with a "skeleton crew"?? d.s

[swiftus27]

This game is very easy to make a ton of money in.   While staffing may not be too accurate, the entire income model does need to represent a full time schedule too.   Those few Herons flying a few routes per day need more people than you think.    If that plane flies 0500-2300 daily then its flying 126 flight hours per week.   That's easily 8 pilots when accounting for the "fudge" factor. 

[swiftus27]

Some tips.  Don't expand too much, too early.   The first real life month of a game is often very busy and then very boring.   You need to make sure you can support some losses until the route makes enough money to cover its expenses.   A green route doesn't necessarily cover fixed expenses (staff costs).   

[swiftus27]

A plane requires far more employees than one may consider.   

As a business grows, there are points where you need to add back-of-house staff before you can add front line employees.    Back of house don't make you money at all but are a necessary component of running a business.  The guy ordering parts for the mechanics has to have an HR rep to call, after all. 

[knobbygb]

Yes, the staffing doesn't scale well - either for very small or very large airlines, but it's what it is - you just have to work with the 'rules' of the game. It does make small airlines very difficult thus taking some fun from the game.

One way to think of it is that EVERYTHING is done in house.  With your imaginary 1950's very small airline they would probably send the aircraft off for to a local shop for maintenance but in AWS all those engineers have to be employees. The same for backroom staff - the small airline would probably hire local legal and accounting firms but here they have to employ them directly. Having your own advertising department is probably a lot more expensive than hiring an agency etc...

Wait while you get bigger!  There is NO economy of scale built in - actually the opposite.  Even when you have 2000+ aircraft, adding just one extra aircraft usually requires at least 10% MORE staff than the aircraft itself could actually seat (as a rough guide). 170 to 180 for a typical 737-8 or A320

[Karl]

Yes, and maybe I am still in the 1950's nostalgia where a small airline could be run by the owner as Captain/Planner/Route mechanic 

It seems to me that this simulation was originally built to simulate modern airline operations.  It has been adapted to fit into an earlier era.  Some concepts fit well; others do not.

It also seems to me that AirwaySim is based on the concept of bigger airplanes flying farther = a more profitable and stable airline operation.  Small airlines flying local routes are a challenge in this environment.  For instance, more passengers seem to want to fly from major US airports to Europe than to major cities in the USA.

A player has to live, learn, and adapt.

[knobbygb]

Yes, and I have been stubborn for too long here, trying to make it work anyway..    I have skipped my airline in the 1950's now and will only go for the modern, new scenario which starts today, "The Modern Times" in 2003. Will go directly on regional jets and try to ignore the old days. I guess I have 'lived, learned and adapted' here.. 

You can still do VERY well in the 1950s, but you just have to apply modern-day thinking.  Don't be afraid to send Doves/Herons on long missions to the limit of their range on redeye flights. Maximum utilisation is king here.  Although that would never have been done in the old days, I guess you might have seen a few small airline haul mail in the passenger cabin overnight.  It's the same principal - keep the a/c flying 24x7 if possible.