I'm assuming most players are simply letting a route lay temporarily vacant while the plane running it is in its C check? If not, I'm curious what the other strageties are, because leasing substitute planes and rotating them through different routes is a pain in the ass and a sure way to bankruptcy in my limited experience... thoughts?
if you run a small airline you can have 1 plane that you rotate through while planes are in C check... I would HIGHLY recommend that you NOT do that. This game will drive you insane if you do.
I used that technique until I had about 50 aircraft, at that point, it will indeed drive you mad! Because everytime you go online, there is another aircraft that needs a C-check, and it drives you nuts!
I think it depends on the situation. Last game I had a small fleet (less than 50) and I was able to string together 2 or 3 C checks in a row. I would lease planes and set them for a delay in delivery to coincide with the C check need.
After the short run of subbing planes I would then have a free plane to dedicate to a route.
This didn't work long, as I think I finished with 162 planes. But early on it can be very beneficial if managed correctly.
Cheers