Hi
Been playing AWS a couple of times with variable success. I never seem to get out of the twenty-odd leased SH-planes (like Fokkers), which can be working out ok, but never seem to be able to make the next step.
I always wonder how you, ten years in, see competitors buy 50 LH planes. Where do you get the money for that kind of purchase :o :o :o If I didn't know any better, I'd think they were cheating 8) But it makes me lose motivation for playing the game, because I just feel so far behind.
Sorry for the newbie question, but has anyone got any tips for me how to take the next step?
Kindest regards,
Biggest tip I can give, join an alliance. They usually have a load of experienced player who can guide you pretty far.
the alliance is a good idea, also ask for a mentor via the dashboard/game mentors menu.
The other good idea is to watch a big player (look at pax count or airline score to spot them) and see what they do.
The first clue is they start in a big airport
The second clue is they start their airline with cheap big old plentiful junk to get passengers in
The third clue is they pack these onto big routes, eg KJFK-KLAX, that have huge numbers of passengers
The fourth clue is at the start of the game they are logged in all day and grab grab grab cheap used planes on lease
The fifth clue is they repeat 2,3,4 for the first game year intensively! Look who has the most planes..
After the first year you can slow down slightly and start getting better planes, different planes, doing some cargo, crowding slots out, and lay the foundations. It will still be year 5 really before you can buy new LH planes.
Clue 6 is you can buy old used junk, but then use that to get asset backed loans far in excess of what you can get without assets. So borrow borrow and get in the planes you really want for the next 20 years.
But it's all about the grab grab grab in the first year (imho)
Simon
Yes, joining an alliance is always a good idea. Many alliances use Skype or Discord nowadays, so that there is always someone available to help you out in case of questions.
There is no easy answer to your question. It really depends at which airport you start, how your competition looks like and what your general concept is. If you start with medium planes (you mentioned Fokkers) then you should still be able to expand. A good HQ will give you plenty of options to expand with Fokkers. Maybe you can get 50 or 100 of them. Sooner or later you will find out that you can order those Fokkers yourself rather than leasing them. As time goes on, you grow more and more and you probably want another fleet type (something bigger).
Airlines don't get big over night. It's a gradual process. Everyone starts with the same money, so it all depends on actual performance.
Now regarding big orders: The bigger the order, the more discount. There is also a launch discount when new aircraft types are announced. Many players will order planes when planes get launched and make big orders. If they can pay 100% upfront, there are lots of combined discounts (10% launch discount, 20% big order discount, 6% direct purchade discount). That saves a lot of money. Another "trick" some airlines (especially early in the game) can use is to just pay 20% upfront and pay the rest upon delivery. I personally avoid this unless necessary because it's a bit risky (will you be able to pay for it once deliveries come in).
Again, don't get demotivated. If you can grow to 20 planes, you can grow to 50 planes. Later 100, 200, 300. Just keep on going. The bigger you get, the more money you will make (if everything goes right) and the more purchase power you have.
EDIT:
QuoteThe first clue is they start in a big airport
The second clue is they start their airline with cheap big old plentiful junk to get passengers in
The third clue is they pack these onto big routes, eg KJFK-KLAX, that have huge numbers of passengers
The fourth clue is at the start of the game they are logged in all day and grab grab grab cheap used planes on lease
The fifth clue is they repeat 2,3,4 for the first game year intensively! Look who has the most planes..
First Clue: Agreed
Second Clue: Not necessarily. This depends on the year in which a game world starts in. Try getting something big in 1950. In History and the Future I started with Convairs (40 seats) while others started with Connies (~80 seats).
Third Clue: Not necessarily. Big routes are a good idea, but range also matters. You would want to prefer short distances in the beginning to get as many pax as possible. So instead of JFK-LAX, maybe fly JFK-ATL (much shorter). Also don't fly that route 10x a day in the beginning because route image needs to build up first. Try to find several of those juicy short routes. But this is just one way to do it of course. Others begin with cargo, or long haul.
Fourth/Fifth: Agreed
At the start of the game I'd say groundbum's 4th clue is most critical. You REALLY have to be obsessive about initial growth. Getting that extra aircraft a few days earlier will generate extra profit meaning you can get the next one a week earlier, the next maybe two weeks earlier etc... Growth can be exponential, at least for the first year or so. That's how the 'big' players get so big early in the game. I probably shouldn't admit this but I also believe I'm not the only one: In the first days of a new game I often set an alarm to wake me in the middle of the night so I can pick up a couple of aircraft from the used market (e.g. 3 at 11pm, 2 at 2:45am then 3 more at 6:30 am). Make every $ count in those early days - be very careful about wasting money on slots you don't need, changing seat config too early, paying even SLIGHTLY more than you need to for a lease. All these things you can totally ignore later but make a huge difference at the start.
I would say that it's not always best to start at a 'big' airport. Not a huge one anyway. Second tier places where you'll face less competition might be better but there's no hard and fast rule and you'll develop a feel for it with time.
You also have to decide what you would consider "winning" a game means. Being the biggest isn't always best. Being the most financially secure is maybe a better thing for a less experienced player to aim for - maybe just having a high profit margin. I can tell you from experience that running a fleet of 1000+ aircraft over 7 or 8 bases can take a LOT of your time. Doing it properly, with every detail taken care of can take several hours per day. Every day. Be realistic about what you plan to achieve.
It all takes time, both in the context of each game and in the bigger picture. Remember - the players you see with these huge airlines - most have been on AWS for 10+ years!
Quote from: groundbum2 on May 03, 2020, 09:49:30 PMThe first clue is they start in a big airport
hum, I finished 8th in scoring with more than one thousand planes after a Warsaw start. Big airport are a two-edged sword.They give you more in potential, but also more opposition.My game in CDG (finished 5th in scoring, so not that much more impressive than Warsaw), I killed more than 20 companies in CDG as well - without really targetting them. Just by taking all the breathing space.
It's a matter of knowing your limits. I played my first games in Glasgow & Edinburgh, places with enough potential to grow, and small enough not to attract the big boys.
I also did beat the 800 mediums airplane with a start in MPL (spamming MAD with S2000s).
Quote from: groundbum2 on May 03, 2020, 09:49:30 PMThe second clue is they start their airline with cheap big old plentiful junk to get passengers in
As andre says, the "big" part is a double edged sword, especially in the early years. For a 1998 start, demand is high enough, so that most players can afford at least single aisle airplanes. Still, my MPL start in 1998 with S2000s in 1998 was good enough to grow big. MRS, NCE, only with S2000s, and that was enough to finance RUN with 767s. It's harder and slower, but with ruthless efficiency, it works.
Quote from: groundbum2 on May 03, 2020, 09:49:30 PMThe third clue is they pack these onto big routes, eg KJFK-KLAX, that have huge numbers of passengers
Bah. There are far better ways of doing a power start. I'm not gonna give clues there. I keep my secrets.
Quote from: groundbum2 on May 03, 2020, 09:49:30 PMThe fourth clue is at the start of the game they are logged in all day and grab grab grab cheap used planes on lease
This helps for a power start. Which is rather important in a big airport against skilled players, but you can perfectly survive without it. Andre did several slow starts in the 50s, to later see every opponent die one by one, and end up as the king of the hill. I did a slow start in MPL in 1998, (took the 2 available S2000s on the UM, then ordered a few new ones on day one - ideal for a snail start) to finish with conquering ORY.
Quote from: groundbum2 on May 03, 2020, 09:49:30 PMThe fifth clue is they repeat 2,3,4 for the first game year intensively! Look who has the most planes..(.../...)
The real clue there is to be efficient. Most of my games were power starts, indeed. MPL, definitively not. The key is to do the best with what you have. Improve your margin. Margin isn't everything : it's the only thing. Margin is what can finance your growth. Margin can be had by 2 ways : reduce expenses, and increase income. You can look at the tutorials in my signature for the former. For the latter, it's mainly about finding good destinations,and making the most of money from them. Try things with seating & ticket prices until you find the local best.
I remember, That CDG game, between the 6th & the 18th month, I had 25% of my profit just out tinkering C class seats prices. While opposition was nit flying C seats at all. Not counting plain basic profit from flying Y, adjusting Y prices, or flying C. Just by adjusting prices on the C seats. That's a few points of margin that helped my power start, helped me take all the place, and took off all breathing space from other companies installed there. I haven't been able to do this elsewhere, mainly because my other starting points were not that juicy.
The point is : see what is the best for your current tactical situation, and improve your margin at all costs. Then take all the available place, be it quickly or slowly. Thinks strategically, and already have an idea of when & how you'll replace your old planes.
You have to pay attention, also. My very first game in GLA, I had grown using 737s & CRJs. I was very glad of my 737s. But CRJs were getting increasingly costlier. I then made a quick calculation of all possible replacements. The best one was actually the worst one : the A148. An equivalent CRJ700LR was costing about 40M$, and I could not afford the hundreds I did need with my mere 10M$ or pretax profit. While an 148E was costing around 15M$, and I could buy them as fast as Antonov could manufacture them.
At this time of the game (2010 for a 1995 start), leasing was no more an option. Several of my CRJs were leased, and leasing costs were dragging me down. That's why I had began to purchase CRJs, but it was simply not working. For my growth needs (I had 10 bases spread out in Europe), I did need one plane every 2-3 weeks. A148s gave me that possibility. I kept the production line open, and grew to 700 of them (that was before the ukrainian achievement). Of course, they did cost 15k$ more per week in fuel, fees, and maintenance. But with 6k$ of depreciation instead of 105k$ of lease on a CRJ700LR, who cares??? Do the maths, it will give you hints.
"power start" - I like it!
I guess my KJFK-KLAX route was a little off. You'll see in EGLL the big players go straight to EGLL-KJFK. Why? Because it's a big route and lots of FC traffic so revenue starts flowing in immediately. You'll often find at the start of the game you can't buy 7 days worth of slots, so you're yo-yo ing a small amount of cash between leasing used planes, and buying slots so they can fly. The first year really is about steroid power growth. Get big and you scare other people away. Don't compete with little guys, they add to the plane count so scare off possible competitors. Don't pay for custom seat plans on used deliveries, uses up money. I suggested KJFK-KLAX as fewer slots to buy with longer routes than short routes..
Simon
Wow, thanks! Great thoughts.
Here are a few replies, comments and thoughts:
Quotealso ask for a mentor via the dashboard/game mentors menu
I did. No one has replied yet.
I can see that more of you are questioning what I meant by "big". Compared to what I've achieved so far, I guess I just meant a reasonably profitable airline, where I earn enough to slowly replace leased planes with bought ones and be free from the leasing fees (yes, I am at *that* level).
QuoteThe first clue is they start in a big airport
OK. I guess I have been too scared to start in a big airport. I know it attracts players who are far better than me and I've felt certain they would outmaneuver me and I wouldn't get a chance to learn. But of course it makes sense: You don't get to run a big airline from a small/medium airport.
QuoteThe second clue is they start their airline with cheap big old plentiful junk to get passengers in
OK. Been definitely doing that wrong. Currently I have leased eight brand new planes and the expenses are slowly driving me to bankruptcy. Now you got me thinking: Is there any reason to ever lease new planes? And doing it on long contracts? Should it just be short contracts with old junk that can be cheaply terminated, once you have enough money to buy your own?
It seems like you have to be in a GW from the very beginning to be successful, otherwise forget it. I am in the AoF-GW and we are in early 70s close to the energy crisis. Does it even make sense for me to continue or to bankrupt the airline and start over in a bigger airport with stiffer competition?
About efficiency: I feel I have got the scheduling down - sort of...I religiously only book slots 06-23. I can see from comments and other blog-posts that I can open up, as the penalty from booking from, say 05.45-23.20 isn't that big of a deal. My efficiency on my current fleet is around 11-14 hrs. Is that efficient enough? I can see that some are up on 18 hrs, but that seems quite hard on SH and MH-flights. Isn't that something you achieve on 7-day scheduling and red-eye flights? I can do the thing with "staying out overnight" where you go to your destination and land at 23-ish, make a turnaround of about 400 minutes and return at 06-ish next morning, six days a week, but is that "proper" efficiency? I mean most of the blue schedule is just turnaround anyway.
Again: Thanks for all your comments. It is really appreciated and I try to take everything in.
Kindest regards
Quote from: kmeinert on May 04, 2020, 07:18:14 AM
OK. I guess I have been too scared to start in a big airport. I know it attracts players who are far better than me and I've felt certain they would outmaneuver me and I wouldn't get a chance to learn. But of course it makes sense: You don't get to run a big airline from a small/medium airport.
This is where I think most players get it wrong. Playing in small countries with low competition hardly teaches you a thing, and additionally, the small market it infinitely harder to grow, since the demand ceiling is so low. Also, if you have a single other competitor in your small country, they will directly target you. In larger airports, everyone will have multiple competitors and you are unlikely to be singled out for competition until you are very large- which is from what I understand your goal.
Quote from: groundbum2 on May 04, 2020, 06:39:11 AM
"power start" - I like it!
I guess my KJFK-KLAX route was a little off. You'll see in EGLL the big players go straight to EGLL-KJFK. Why? Because it's a big route and lots of FC traffic so revenue starts flowing in immediately. You'll often find at the start of the game you can't buy 7 days worth of slots, so you're yo-yo ing a small amount of cash between leasing used planes, and buying slots so they can fly. The first year really is about steroid power growth. Get big and you scare other people away. Don't compete with little guys, they add to the plane count so scare off possible competitors. Don't pay for custom seat plans on used deliveries, uses up money. I suggested KJFK-KLAX as fewer slots to buy with longer routes than short routes..
Simon
Also here is another good point, but this only applied at the beginning of a game. Later on, these kind of routes are the first ones to receive insane oversupply margins, and are certainly not the best routes.
To start later on, which I have done successfully many times, for example my LHR airline started in 1982, and by 1998, I net 1.1 billion profit a week. I think they key to a fast start in bases like this are finding pockets on unserved demand. Overlooked demand in large bases like LHR, ATL, and LAX is sometimes much greater than the total demand in smaller airports. Here are a few places to look for unserved demand.
The best routes are usually those buried multiple pages deep into route selection tab. For example, from LAX, ORD, or ATL, (and to some extend DEN, PHX, LAS, SEA,SFO), you can find domestic routes which serve over 200 passenger on the 6-7 page. Beyond that you can find hundreds of usually unserved routes which have demand for 50-60 pax, good for mid range medium size glass aircraft. These unserved, or underserved routes are a FANTASTIC way to start operations in a large base, and you should quickly gain the cash to be-able to compete on more and more competitive routes and serve more and more pax.
Another enormous unserved market is cargo routes. Especially cargo routes to level 2 airports. If you base is in the US, or richer countries in the EU, Japan, or China. (and multiple other smaller ones), you can usually find great cargo routes to start on. Cargo routes have an advantage, since if you find a good unserved cargo route to start, your margin will Immediately be 35%+. This gives you more than enough money to add lesser, less profitable routes and the few good cargo routes you have fill keep you afloat untill your other routes gain image and get better.
As for fleet utilization, while 14 is acceptable, its not ideal. Longer short haul routes should be averaging around 16h/d, and LH 19h/d. This is not always achievable however. Most players achieve high utilization through a process called "seven day scheduling" and its essentail for efficient scheduling. Check the forum for gazz's scheduling tutorial if you dont know what it is, its a great read.
Anyways, hope this helps.
-Tungstennedge.
PS Im sad to hear nobody replied to you mentoring request, I'd be happy to help and take a look at your airline if you like.
Quote from: kmeinert on May 04, 2020, 07:18:14 AM
It seems like you have to be in a GW from the very beginning to be successful, otherwise forget it.
Not true at all, although I'll admit it's a lot harder starting later (generally). Not being in at the start gives you the advantage of already being able to see where the best players are and where the weakest ones have left a lot of low-hanging fruit for you to pick off. You'll have a clearer picture of any gaps that have been left and where the strategies are going in general. You'll also know more about the world (are slots ultra expensive or cheap, is there more or less cargo than usual, how is demand growing in general - these things change world to world and can catch even experienced players out at the start). Admittedly, starting within the first 4 or 5 years is bad - virtually no used planes on the market, lack of slots etc. but there are sweet-spots - especially once people start to drop out. Look at a game that's 15 or 20 years old just after another one has started. A lot of people will get bored, BK and move to a new world. Also think of timing for aircraft. Starting 5 years after, say, the A320 is introduced can be a great time to pick up loads of "old" 737-200Adv from the used market. I nearly always begin at the start but I recently challenged myself by starting in the mid 1960s. I chose a regional French airport (MRS) and filled it with leased dirt-cheap Fokker 50s. Then I expanded carefully to a second, third and fourth. By the time CDG opened in the mid 70s I was rich enough to jump in with 50 brand new purchased DC9s which I'd been stockpiling. I didn't play much later than the late 1980s as it was just an experiment, but by the time I BKd I was far bigger than the guy who'd been ot ORY since the start of the game and I basically 'owned' France. It IS possible but it was slow, tedious work.
Quote from: kmeinert on May 04, 2020, 07:18:14 AM
About efficiency: I feel I have got the scheduling down - sort of...I religiously only book slots 06-23. I can see from comments and other blog-posts that I can open up, as the penalty from booking from, say 05.45-23.20 isn't that big of a deal. My efficiency on my current fleet is around 11-14 hrs. Is that efficient enough?
Kindest regards
Nah, even 14hrs usage is not good enough under any circumstances, sorry. I aim for 18hrs and usually settle for about 17.2hrs - that's with a good mixed set of routes. If you have only short-haul turboprops then 16hrs might be more realistic. You might see 'good' players with low utilisation later in the game, but that's only because they have more money than they know what to do with and can afford to be inefficient. If you're careful, the red-eyes can make an extra 5% or 10% profit easily. Leaving that money on the table (especially with a leased fleet) is the difference between being good and average, in my opinion. Try not to do the thing where you fly somewhere, stay for 6 hours overnight and fly back early morning either. It CAN be useful but is not generally a good tactic. In most parts of the world you should be able to find 'proper' red-eyes where you are flying for most of the night. Don't be too afraid of landing after midnight (curfew permitting). There is some penalty, but nowhere near as much as departing at those times. 23:55 from home base, landing at 03:30 and then departing for home at 05:00 is fine. Not ideal, but fine. I'm playing in Japan at the moment, which is terrible for curfews. Despite that, I'm still managing 18.1hrs utilisation - but mostly because I have a LOT of ultra-long-haul tech-stopping cargo flights.
Quote from: knobbygb on May 04, 2020, 08:40:14 AM
(.../...)
Nah, even 14hrs usage is not good enough under any circumstances, sorry. I aim for 18hrs and usually settle for about 17.2hrs (.../...)
Depends on your fleet structure. That is true for Very large aircraft (nearly always), and for some profiles of larges. The shorter your average flight, the smaller will be your usage average. If you are based in Switzerland, with 80% of you're traffic within a few hundreds of NM of range, it's not at all the same than playing in SGN where basically everything juicy is too far. It can be a 4 hours difference in fleet usage, for the same kind of planes, and the same style of scheduling.
Your basic point remains true : you have to overuse your planes, by using red eyes as much as possible. It's not just possible to red eyes all your flights when you're in a dense area. Which means your metrics is not as useful than you might think.
Quote from: tungstennedge on May 04, 2020, 07:48:34 AM
This is where I think most players get it wrong. Playing in small countries with low competition hardly teaches you a thing, and additionally, the small market it infinitely harder to grow, since the demand ceiling is so low. Also, if you have a single other competitor in your small country, they will directly target you. In larger airports, everyone will have multiple competitors and you are unlikely to be singled out for competition until you are very large- which is from what I understand your goal.(.../...)
True, but "
not that big" airports can be very pedagogic. You can learn the basics of scheduling quieter in Glasgow against two average players, than in LHR against Frimp, Schro, Talentz and a few other dangerous opponents.
Quote from: kmeinert on May 04, 2020, 07:18:14 AM
OK. Been definitely doing that wrong. Currently I have leased eight brand new planes and the expenses are slowly driving me to bankruptcy. Now you got me thinking: Is there any reason to ever lease new planes? And doing it on long contracts? Should it just be short contracts with old junk that can be cheaply terminated, once you have enough money to buy your own?
It can work, but should be avoided as long as possible. As I said, I did it in my snail start in MPL - for the lack of better options. Only one destination in MPL is big enough for larges (ORY), and that game was very short on medium frames. So I had no choice. Every other game, I jumped on old crap big enough to transport a reasonable amount of pax, and did choose my destinations carefully (Tungstennedge partially unveils my strategy, btw, read him well).
The trick is to get rid of this old crap before the D-check strikes. Which means this strategy only works up to a certain size. Once you grow bigger, you need brand new frames. If you can't afford to purchase them, then you're not ready yet to grow more, and it's time to consolidate. I tend to lease up to the D-Check, but milage may vary. The only time I played Y42 (from MPL to ORY - it did the job), I leased until the next C-Check.
Quote from: kmeinert on May 04, 2020, 07:18:14 AMAbout efficiency: I feel I have got the scheduling down - sort of...I religiously only book slots 06-23. I can see from comments and other blog-posts that I can open up, as the penalty from booking from, say 05.45-23.20 isn't that big of a deal. My efficiency on my current fleet is around 11-14 hrs. Is that efficient enough? I can see that some are up on 18 hrs, but that seems quite hard on SH and MH-flights. Isn't that something you achieve on 7-day scheduling and red-eye flights? I can do the thing with "staying out overnight" where you go to your destination and land at 23-ish, make a turnaround of about 400 minutes and return at 06-ish next morning, six days a week, but is that "proper" efficiency? I mean most of the blue schedule is just turnaround anyway.
You lose maybe 1 or 2 % of load factor between 0500 & 0555, and even less between 2300 & 2355. Unless you micromanage prices. If you are like 90% of players(including many of the best, so it's not a bad practice) and go on with a "standard + x%" pricing strategy, then you have to fly 0500-2355 at all costs. If you are like younger me and micromanage prices like a madman, you'll see far stronger differences. I remember a very short range flight from JFK (maybe to Buffalo?) where I was unopposed, and milked prices to insane levels. But my 0500 flight had to be at 360$ while other flights in the day could be at 440 to be 98% full. Standard was maybe 200$.
Sleepovers (i.e sleeping 305 minutes at the destinations airport) are not a bad thing, I'm using them often...but only once I'm short on red eyes flights (which usually come quick when you'replaying in regional European airports).
EDIT : took mentorship and hada look. Starting in a small airport far from everything with a dangerous opponent there was risky...
Hey everyone.
Thanks for some really great input. I am so thrilled how much advice you want to share. Thank you thank you thank you.
The Godfather himself, gazzz0x2z has offered to tutor me, so I'll take it one on one with him to save you all from more stupidity on my part. But thanks again. I feel like I've learned a lot.
I think one lesson from all this is to try different things,experiment. So schedule a plane at 0500 and see what the loads are like. Try different things and see what works.
I wouldn't touch cargo for the first year unless it was specialist cargo game. The reason is Route Image (RI) needs to be 80 or above to get good cargo loads, until then you lose cash hand over fist. And Year1 is all about getting in and spending cash to grow madly. Think of turning yourself into a very angry very buzzy hornets nest. Other airlines will look at your base and routes and think "not likely" and move somewhere else, leaving you in peace.
As somebody said - only lease used planes up to their D check. And turn off automatic D checks. If the D check is 4.8 years I'll lease for 5 years then cancel the lease for next to no money when the D check expires.
S
Quote from: kmeinert on May 04, 2020, 07:18:14 AM
It seems like you have to be in a GW from the very beginning to be successful, otherwise forget it. I am in the AoF-GW and we are in early 70s close to the energy crisis. Does it even make sense for me to continue or to bankrupt the airline and start over in a bigger airport with stiffer competition?
This is completely incorrect. It's very easy to be successful joining mid-world. In a new GW, it's luck of the draw as to what competition you might have. In an existing world, you can be sure to pick an airport that has both enough size and not too much competition. In AoF, there are heaps of airports available. Starting over now and building a huge airline is completely doable. Just pick an airport depending on whether you want to try LH, all medium planes, whatever.
QuoteAbout efficiency: I feel I have got the scheduling down - sort of...I religiously only book slots 06-23. I can see from comments and other blog-posts that I can open up, as the penalty from booking from, say 05.45-23.20 isn't that big of a deal. My efficiency on my current fleet is around 11-14 hrs. Is that efficient enough? I can see that some are up on 18 hrs, but that seems quite hard on SH and MH-flights. Isn't that something you achieve on 7-day scheduling and red-eye flights? I can do the thing with "staying out overnight" where you go to your destination and land at 23-ish, make a turnaround of about 400 minutes and return at 06-ish next morning, six days a week, but is that "proper" efficiency? I mean most of the blue schedule is just turnaround anyway.
With an all-turboprop airline in AG, flying ~300 f27s, and with rather a lot of unscheduled planes, I'm still at 14 hours. If everything is scheduled, I'm at more like 16-17. Can't be bothered doing 7 day scheduling for turboprops in general, though did one due to boredom and 2 more for my few cargo planes. Start flying at 0500, not 0600. definitely land all the way to 2355. On a turboprop with 45 min default turns, that gives you 19:20 round trip time to play with before using any short turns (0500-0520 first departure, 2335-2355 last landing gives 00:20 as the next available departure, and exactly 5 hours gap for A-check. 0500-0020 = 19:20.) Add in redeyes if you have them, throw in a short turn if needed, add in say 0040-0415 leg in one direction on a route that supports 3 daily flights, and your utilisation goes up even more. Though the number itself is less important than whether you're scheduling efficiently for the airport you're in and the fleets & routes you have.
You're in an airport that has ok longhaul demand and a very short runway, which means all those LH airlines flying DC8s have a tough time flying into your airport. There are heaps and heaps of very cheap bristols on the UM, with the range for LH and that work on short runways. In addition to all the points that have been mentioned, one of the biggest things to make is a sensible choice of fleets. On day one of an epic GW, for a lot of airports that might be only DC6 or connies. In an established GW, there are more options. Look at the routes you have, look at what the UM has available. Using bristols as an efficient way to get started will work well from that airport. Though they might be a challenge to replace later.
Starting an airline with new planes, which it appears you've done, is a very slow way to go about things, especially if your goal is to get past being a 20-30 plane airline, expand to the point you're making enough money to start owning your own fleet, to have ~100 planes. Again, see what the UM has, ideally research before you start your airline, e.g. if you're going to start over again, spend the time before you do so looking for the ideal airport, and then seeing what options you have. DC8s don't appear on the UM. DC6 and connies on the UM are now mostly very old, very expensive to run. There are plenty of CV-440s if you want turboprops, or other options with enough to get started like ATL90s or heralds. Lots of 741s if that works for your chosen airport (they almost certainly don't. ;)), the same caravelles you're leasing new are there on UM too.
The other big thing that has only been vaguely mentioned is to put a bit of time into researching routes. Spend a couple of hours making a list, and you can run an extremely low maintenance airline, as well as finding the best routes to get started on, the undersupplied demand, etc. There's a thread called 'project portugal' that I can no longer find, from ~2012. I got tired of so many people saying it was impossible to run a decent sized airline without a lot of time commitment, with an existing big competitor, etc, etc. So I started in Lisbon, which had an airline with a couple of hundred planes already there, did spend a couple of hours planning, but then had a hard limit of no more than 30min per RL day logged in. Having list of routes already drawn up made it very easy to expand, took almost no time. Log in, grab 3 x chosen plane from UM (in this case, BAC-500s), schedule them, logout.
Quote from: tungstennedgeThis is where I think most players get it wrong. Playing in small countries with low competition hardly teaches you a thing, and additionally, the small market it infinitely harder to grow, since the demand ceiling is so low. Also, if you have a single other competitor in your small country, they will directly target you. In larger airports, everyone will have multiple competitors and you are unlikely to be singled out for competition until you are very large- which is from what I understand your goal.
It'll teach you plenty, because you need to be efficient to make money. The problem is it gets very boring after that, because there aren't options to expand. And the other problem is people think that if succeeding in the small airport was so tough, it must be almost impossible to succeed somewhere bigger. Big airports are very, very easy places to succeed in. If a big airport has slots, you can make a successful 100 plane airline there, regardless of how much comp there is. Where people fail is that in a big airport with a lot of comp, it's very easy to overexpand and cause a cashflow crisis, to overexpand and see margins drop. But if the aim is a self-sustaining 100 plane airline that doesn't take much effort, then big airports are the easiest spots. Again with the caveat they have slots available.
Quote from: sanabas on May 04, 2020, 04:28:59 PM
On a turboprop with 45 min default turns, that gives you 19:20 round trip time to play with before using any short turns (0500-0520 first departure, 2335-2355 last landing gives 00:20 as the next available departure, and exactly 5 hours gap for A-check. 0500-0020 = 19:20.)
Since A checks are weekly I'll generally schedule Mon-Fri and Sunday up to and past midnight, then squash down the Saturday flight with less than 1% turnaround time before, during and after flight and squeeze the A check in. Saturday as passenger numbers are much lower on a Saturday so less pax loss for monthly B check, and if flight is cancelled due turnaround being too tight.
So it could be Sun-Fri 19:00 - 21:00 - 21:45 - 23:45
and Saturday 18:50 - 20:50 - 21:40 - 23:40 so 20 min + 5 hour A check fits ready for 0500 Sunday
Simon
Dear Groundbum and Sanabas
Thank you so much for your inputs. I try to take it all in and hopefully learn from it. Very good insights!
/Kris