Hey guys...
Been an on and off player since 2011 and before, I'm sure. Can't recall. Commercial airline pilot for 8 years. Business and property owner.l just to give a brief background.
On and off (and apologies to the alliance I didn't leave before my abandoned airline went BK. This was due to an emergency situation which needed my time and attention for months to come and I didn't have the passion to come back for a while) and have only had one very large airline based at Kiwait way back.
I wish to address something and I would really love the opinions of fellow casual players like myself, newcomers as well as the seasoned veterans of these super mega ultra airlines churning high 10's, hundreds and billions a month.
I established my airline in 1983 i think, typically in my home nation of Trinidad each and everytime since I barely get competition and the demand is small enough for me to tune in 20mins a day to maintain and plan and get back to a hectic life.l with kids and such...
12 years later in 1995, my best route pairs had ZERO competition. The ones that did, I placed planes on with intent to SHARE the market and not try to drop prices and fight like it was another airline based at the same airport I'm in. Make sense? Of course. Even when I was at Kuwait, I never saw it feasible nor did it make sense to me, as a business owner in RL, to try and do what? Drive prices so low that a smaller or equally sized airline drops their prices and we lose profit? What....bloody....for??????
Yet, I have some players who all of a sudden, after FORTY YEARS choosing yo not fly to my base, decided to do just that. Which I am completely happy with. What I am absolutely not happy with, is having big B752's, some of which were even relatively new, competing with smaller A320s and B734s and such, with luxury and premium seating configurations, losing to these smaller, and sometimes older planes. Which to me leads to one theory. These players who dedicate their lives to this sim, are able to afford to drop their prices to next to nothing...but WHY? My airline isn't a threat to them. I am happy to coexist. Why do such a thing? My only reasoning I can think of is that they want said routing for themselves as well as wanting to be the No.1 top, mega, super, ultra airline in yhe GW lol
I understand competition but to what extent? Hence why I want novices to give their opinions on any such experiences. Its almost as though some of you vets want to be the only ones playing this game. I love a challenge, and POS is certain one given its geographical location. Only a handful of aircraft models are best suited and I love it. But, aside from struggling to keep my head above the water due to rising fuel prices, I now have to deal with an onslaught of these giant airlines now deciding after 40-60 GW years, is the right time to place planes on this unwanted route...only to beat my superior aircraft (bigger with better seats vs their airframes) by a clear margin.
The only way to retain a fair share of these markets would be to drop my prices.
Then I'd go BK and they'd have it all to themselves...after not even prioritising TTPP.
Does anyone else have this issue?
How does it make you feel?
Am I wrong for feeling slightly frustrated with this?
Please let me know. This is my 1st GW experiencing cargo and a few changes and Sami as always is a legend. I didn't think this game could get any better. But imho, these players need to relax. You're making BILLIONS. Look at Kisscadi's financial history. It's a modest airline. There are routes I can compete on but I don't see a point. Even once I've saturated my demand completely, any additional planes can be leased out. Why would I place a plane on an already served route pair that has an airline that completely or almost covers the entire demand? And even if I did, how is it possible and right to hold the majority of the market share...with a smaller plane, with inferior seats? I thought pax prefers to fly on bigger planes. I thought seating would have a realistic effect by now.
Anyways. Opinions are welcomed.
I chose not to join an alliance this time around to 1. Ensure I don't BK without leaving again and 2. Last time I wasn't even helped by the alliance members. They were mute and unhelpful. Only one guy helped me but we are not in the same GW. Amazing guy.
That's a very well written explanation of your situation rather than some of the rants we see here.
I'm not a small airline but one of the big, mega, aggressive airlines you speak of. From my point of view, it's not about not wanting anyone else to be able to play, but about wanting a FIGHT. I want the people with smaller airlines to become more aggressive and hit back at me, to make the game more of a challenge. It's no fun at all just becoming very wealthy and then sitting watching the bank balance grow by half a Billion $$$ per week. If it were real money, yes I'd be content sitting on a tropical island somewhere smiling into the distance. The money isn't real though. This is something I do for a challenge and, most importantly, fun. I'd hate to be thought of as a bully. I often reply to help requests from my direct competitors, or even send them personal messages, explaining how they can improve their airline.
Have you ever played the board game 'Monopoly'? That's how I see AWS - an aggressive winner-takes all game. Having said that, I don't deliberately try to crush small airlines but I do take every realistic opportunity there is to expand and improve my statistics and be the No.1 airline if possible. If they survive - then all the better. We're both gaining important experience.
If you do things correctly there should be no way another airline can force you to bankrupt, so long as they are playing within the rules. In your situation, do you really want to sit around now for 40 or 50 years basically just monitoring your airline? Why not see this as a new challenge to adapt and survive? Come up with a new strategy, make some changes and your play style will improve for next time. To me that means you would be getting better value for money for your weekly credits and the game remains interesting. After all, in real life, airlines flying 20 year old 757s are also having to adapt and fight to survive. It's amazes me how very realistic this game has become (most of the time).
Rule number one in AWS: if you make reasonable choices, your airline survives!
I have had competitors that made hopeless choices and if it werent for "boreouts" they would have lived on.
I know, sounds crazy, but thats the way Sami likes the game.
Which in turn leads to your airline: oddly it really seems you dont gave much competition on your routes! Which in turn made me question your airline.
- Aircraft usage is OK, but try to improve it maybe with the introduction of the EJets.
- Aircraft fleet selection is OK, the EJets and Fokkers are great aircraft, the 752 are amazing (but will need to go at some point), the 744 is where I would be worrying, especially with rising fuel prices (we all love the Queen, but in AWS she can be a big pain the way passengers behave...)
- Your routes: here I start worrying... 52 pax in the F50 is good. 271 pax in an 747 is abysmal! AWS passengers dont care about seat comfort! You leave a lot of money laying around on many routes where demand is higher than supply!
- Prices: you wrote a lot about a price war... thats the big NoNo of AWS! Never go below the standard prices! You can fly 20 times a day for 1$ per ticket, your conpetition will be booked just as good as you (believe me, I tried!). Update prices regularly to be on the standard price again (some recommend +3% as the sweet spot).
I know, AWS calls itself a simulation, but in the end, the area we go to is called the "Game Area" and one should accept that it is a game with its own realities. So the 747 is making tickets cheap? Passengers dont care! The extra space makes passengers comfortable? Passengers dont care! You have 12 return flights a day to pick from and the competition only 1 in the middle of the night? They just dont care.*
*they do care a very little amount about it, but that amount is insignificant.
1. Bankrupting without leaving the alliance no longer causes alliance point loss/penalties.
2. TTPP is unattractive in the early game for non-TTPP based players because the demand levels are too small to make it profitable to fly there (also, limitations on range for older planes).
3. 757s aren't the best choice unless you can make lots use out of the P2Fs or really need a little more range.
4. As a mega airline, it's not personal. Your destination simply fit the schedule that was being assembled at that particular time. In that mode I'll usually just add 100% of demand so I don't have to go check it later to see if you bankrupted.
5. The variable profit of flying an extra flight on a plane at a 50% capacity adds to the bottom line more than it being parked.
6. Mega airlines that see only half the demand covered by the incumbent see that they can likey pick up 65-80% of that demand if they fly it.
7. Leaving unserved demand on the table in your own HQ can be seen as weekends/inexperience, making it more likely that said airline will bankrupt and leave all demand to the mega airline.
8. Market share should not be your goal on a given route. Profit it what you seek. You can do that by increasing revenue and or reducing costs. A higher market share does not always correlate with higher profit.
Quote from: schro on March 17, 2022, 11:48:52 AM
1. Bankrupting without leaving the alliance no longer causes alliance point loss/penalties.
2. TTPP is unattractive in the early game for non-TTPP based players because the demand levels are too small to make it profitable to fly there (also, limitations on range for older planes).
3. 757s aren't the best choice unless you can make lots use out of the P2Fs or really need a little more range.
4. As a mega airline, it's not personal. Your destination simply fit the schedule that was being assembled at that particular time. In that mode I'll usually just add 100% of demand so I don't have to go check it later to see if you bankrupted.
5. The variable profit of flying an extra flight on a plane at a 50% capacity adds to the bottom line more than it being parked.
6. Mega airlines that see only half the demand covered by the incumbent see that they can likey pick up 65-80% of that demand if they fly it.
7. Leaving unserved demand on the table in your own HQ can be seen as weekends/inexperience, making it more likely that said airline will bankrupt and leave all demand to the mega airline.
8. Market share should not be your goal on a given route. Profit it what you seek. You can do that by increasing revenue and or reducing costs. A higher market share does not always correlate with higher profit.
Hey, appreciate the response although I waited a tad longer to see if any newish players wanted to chime in.
1. Sweet.
2. It is but since the 1980s, there were 200+ pax routes all the way up to 400+ routes within Europe that was unnerved, just to give an example and I had 0 competition until the mid 90s.
3. True but for TTPP, what else would you suggest in the 80s and 90s??? I needed to fill 130-210 pax demand that were 2000-3500nm away. I DID state that I choose TTPP for its challenging geography. While you guys can get fat off of these high demand sub 2000nm routes where all you have to do is stick the typical A320/B737...I have to select ONE aircraft to cover my medium haul routes and they're mostly at the limit of the above mentioned aircraft capabilities and beyond. Also, I bought them dirt cheap. 20-40M
4. Even if I had fully covered said demand already? I don't think so sir. Again, a normally sized airline isn't doing this due to such a slight meaningless profit. Major airlines are because they're making soooo much money, its nothing to them. Which also begs the question...why be so greedy. And yes, I think it's downright greed. Billions made in a month or quarter or 6 months or a year and placing planes on routes that were fully occupied then driving prices down. Imho, if I was a new player and this happened in my first experience, I'd never return. Especially when the response of these major airline operators is "well have you looked at your airline fleet etc etc" and not a clear and moral justification for making life harder for new and casual players to enjoy this sim.
5. I know but that does not mean anything as imho it does not justify what you mega rich airlines are doing.
6. Do they NEED to even if that were the case. Also, please note...on most of these routes I am speaking of...THAT is NOT the case.
7. I didn't leave so how does this apply to me exactly?
8. My goal is to run a healthy business. Not to expand by all means necessary which is clearly what you mega Airlines are doing. Again...did you need to extra, minute income? Nope. Yet you'd rather place your planes EVERYWHERE. Sorry for the caps but I am a big disappointed in these responses. They're very vague and assuming.
Quote from: DanDan on March 17, 2022, 11:18:00 AM
Rule number one in AWS: if you make reasonable choices, your airline survives!
I have had competitors that made hopeless choices and if it werent for "boreouts" they would have lived on.
I know, sounds crazy, but thats the way Sami likes the game.
Which in turn leads to your airline: oddly it really seems you dont gave much competition on your routes! Which in turn made me question your airline.
- Aircraft usage is OK, but try to improve it maybe with the introduction of the EJets.
- Aircraft fleet selection is OK, the EJets and Fokkers are great aircraft, the 752 are amazing (but will need to go at some point), the 744 is where I would be worrying, especially with rising fuel prices (we all love the Queen, but in AWS she can be a big pain the way passengers behave...)
- Your routes: here I start worrying... 52 pax in the F50 is good. 271 pax in an 747 is abysmal! AWS passengers dont care about seat comfort! You leave a lot of money laying around on many routes where demand is higher than supply!
- Prices: you wrote a lot about a price war... thats the big NoNo of AWS! Never go below the standard prices! You can fly 20 times a day for 1$ per ticket, your conpetition will be booked just as good as you (believe me, I tried!). Update prices regularly to be on the standard price again (some recommend +3% as the sweet spot).
I know, AWS calls itself a simulation, but in the end, the area we go to is called the "Game Area" and one should accept that it is a game with its own realities. So the 747 is making tickets cheap? Passengers dont care! The extra space makes passengers comfortable? Passengers dont care! You have 12 return flights a day to pick from and the competition only 1 in the middle of the night? They just dont care.*
*they do care a very little amount about it, but that amount is insignificant.
Oh boy. Well, I did make reasonable choices at the time.
I won't go through what you responded with in full as I didn't need a critique of my airline.
Guys guys...the 744s you see in my fleet, I intended to and would have successfully been able to retire them in 2006. NO CHANCE. When I acquired them, guess what? My calculations, factoring rising fuel prices and a desecrated P/M saw that I'd swapped them out for 777s by 2007. No chance. Can you guess why? Because now all my solo routes and occupied by mega rich alliance members. Not down to me. Not down to a lack of reasonable choices.
I'm started to get flashbacks. Is this really you guys only types of responses? Guys...B747s...for under $30M is a BARGAIN.
It allowed me to have ONE heavy fleet that could even fly out to the far east west coast and Europe and the Middle East. It DID make sense at the time. You guys are responding like B744s were only rece try bought.
Did I lease them? Nobody. Sheesh. Now I can understand why some peolle have ranted. There is nothing moral about fighting every airline. And as a pilot for a Chinese airline currently, I can tell you that THIS IS NOT REAL LIFE. HQ yes. Region, sometimes yes. But to fight on routes is suicide in RL. The risk isn't worth it. No one tries to shut the airline on the other end of said route pair out.l of that route. FACT.
Come on guys. You are the elite in this game. No pun. You always ho for these major airports. Why not try somewhere similar to TTPP for a change and show us dummies which your response sort of indicates...how its done. Start late...in 1983, in a region where you cannot simply print money and buy an entire production line of any medium or LH plane you fancy.
I'm slightly offended I apologise. I literally have been super successful in life in business and I'm being told that I somehow made poor choices and THAT is why I'm losing money. How on earth do you expect an airline like mine to even address changing economical climates when you insist on being everywhere even when you don't bloody fit.
I'm sorry, I can't. This is why I lose interest in this game. The community doesn't exist. Just the elites. What sort of replies are those maaan. :,(
All these things you mentioned most of which has nothing to do with the topic...how am I meant to accept that? Just a beautifully made game. Very complex only to have it ruined by billion dollar corporations who insist on pooping on the little guys. Lol
If other countries were accessible to you...you'd have ran everyone but your alliances out the airline industry lol.
I wished I could get rid of my 747s by 2006. No chance. Tha ks to the likes of you. That is the truth. Not my marketing. Not ny aircraft choice. Not my demand. Nothing.
I refuse to fight or downsize. I will upgrade my fleet if I can but compared to a few years back, this is abysmal. I have not endured such adamant, uber aggressive behaviour from you elite members...ever. I don't recall you guys placing aircraft on low demand saturated route pairs only to try and justify it by pointing fingers at the victims. Imagine making billions and still wanted someone else's market which you didn't even need.
I'm completely lost for words. You guys even lease planes out. Why do you need these low saturated markers? It IS NOT FUN. Maybe for YOU. You're describing how it's fun for you and having the cheek to tell me...that I should do this also? And that what I'm doing is not challenging? Do you have kids? No. And I can assume so given how much time a day it takes to run those massive airlines. No way you guys have businesses where you're getting g calls from overseas at 4am. Or calls from emergency elservices regarding the tenants at your property. Or kids who need 24/7 times and care. I don't have more than 30mins at most e ery 1 or 2 days.
I don't even know what else to say but I'm sure if I looked through the archives when I was young..these were the exact same responses I read from you guys regarding people's genuine and rughtful complaints.
Sorry if this came across emotional but I am. Let's see what happens. Continue to squeeze.
Quote from: Douglas.Don on March 19, 2022, 06:55:04 AM
The community doesn't exist.
It is generally known that forums have been in decline for at least a decade; drowned in social media. Try Discord channel. I prefer forums, too, but it's much more lively on Discord than here.
Quote from: Douglas.Don on March 19, 2022, 06:55:04 AM
What sort of replies are those maaan. :,(
I'm not sure I get this comment. Several seasoned players took time to analyze your fleet and provide advice and suggestions; I learned something new from their answers, those are great posts. What did you expect?
Quote from: Douglas.Don on March 19, 2022, 06:55:04 AM
I refuse to fight or downsize.
One of interpretations of Darwin's evolution theory is that it's not the strongest one who survives, or smartest one, or tallest or prettiest one. It is the most adaptable one who survives. I'd say the same applies here - if you refuse to fight when it's time to fight and to downsize when it's time to downsize, don't get surprised if your airline goes south again...
My approach is usually similar to what knobbygb wrote above - what's the entertainment just to setup a dozens of planes in some isolated airport and look at green numbers increase.
As for ticket price war, as written above, it's wrong strategy; been there, seen that, untill I listened to advice of experienced ones - for each dollar you make your competitor lose, you will lose two dollars.
Hope you'll regain your interest and enjoy the game as it's intended to be! :)
Quote12 years later in 1995, my best route pairs had ZERO competition. The ones that did, I placed planes on with intent to SHARE the market and not try to drop prices and fight like it was another airline based at the same airport I'm in. Make sense? Of course. Even when I was at Kuwait, I never saw it feasible nor did it make sense to me, as a business owner in RL, to try and do what? Drive prices so low that a smaller or equally sized airline drops their prices and we lose profit? What....bloody....for??????
Yet, I have some players who all of a sudden, after FORTY YEARS choosing yo not fly to my base, decided to do just that. Which I am completely happy with. What I am absolutely not happy with, is having big B752's, some of which were even relatively new, competing with smaller A320s and B734s and such, with luxury and premium seating configurations, losing to these smaller, and sometimes older planes. Which to me leads to one theory. These players who dedicate their lives to this sim, are able to afford to drop their prices to next to nothing...but WHY? My airline isn't a threat to them. I am happy to coexist. Why do such a thing? My only reasoning I can think of is that they want said routing for themselves as well as wanting to be the No.1 top, mega, super, ultra airline in yhe GW lol
First of all, dumping prices do not work in this game. Actually, if you use lower than default pricing, you will lose passengers (and money). Therefore I doubt that any experienced player would lower its prices, especially on shared routes with a foreign/small airline. They will have hundreds if not thousands of routes. It may sound arrogant, but they simply don't micromanage every single route. They don't care about small competitors from abroad either. I bet they did not even check your airline when they opened the route. As Schro said, your airport just made sense for them to finish off a 7-day-schedule. They likely had 4-5 destinations in their schedule and had a few blank hours left at the end thinking "where could I fly to to get max utilization". They then did a quick search, found your random airport in the Caribbean and went ahead and put it in their schedule. There is not much thought behind it. For them, it's just a way to complete a schedule. It's not intended in the first place to be a huge cash cow. For you, on the other hand, a valuable source of income can get affected and I understand your anger.
Next, "premium configurations" don't work. They don't have any effect except you fly less passengers than you could with standard seats. Again, I doubt any experienced player would use such configurations against you. Also, 757 and 737/A320 are in the same aircraft class ("large"), so technically there are no size differences when it comes to game mechanics. You need the 757 for its range. Fair enough. However, if you got competitors using A320/737, then their range must be just fine? Or how else would they be able to use them? If you get challenged by more efficient planes, maybe it's time to overthink your fleet choice and/or adapt your fleet accordingly. For example, let's assume I am flying a 747 for its capacity on a monopoly route. I carry some 400 passengers. All of a sudden, a competitor opens that route using a 767 with 200 seats. The demand of 400 gets split between us. His 767 is full, my 747 is suddenly half empty. Do I complain? No, it was a smart move by the competitor. Either I stick to my 747 and lose money or I adapt, either by finding a different route for the 747 or by using a more efficient plane myself.
To summarize: You make assumptions that are just not true and you don't fully understand how the game works (there is no "lowering prices", and there are no "premium configurations" either). Your chosen airport base is a tough spot to be successful in. From what I understand, you wanted a challenge. And now you are concerned you were challenged by competitors flying to your airport? Sorry, but isn't this a bit paradox? Unfortunately, this game is rather one-sided when it comes to basing. You don't really stand a chance in places such as Trinidad unless you really really micromanage every little detail and adapt as much as possible. From what I understood, you don't have time to do that and just want a nice little game where you don't need to login daily and "do stuff". Ironically, your airport choice requires just that. Instead, try some random place in the US or EU. You will see that the bigger demand and more destination options will give you more freedom which will also mean less struggle.
Quote from: Douglas.Don on March 19, 2022, 06:32:15 AM
Hey, appreciate the response although I waited a tad longer to see if any newish players wanted to chime in.
1. Sweet.
2. It is but since the 1980s, there were 200+ pax routes all the way up to 400+ routes within Europe that was unnerved, just to give an example and I had 0 competition until the mid 90s.
3. True but for TTPP, what else would you suggest in the 80s and 90s??? I needed to fill 130-210 pax demand that were 2000-3500nm away. I DID state that I choose TTPP for its challenging geography. While you guys can get fat off of these high demand sub 2000nm routes where all you have to do is stick the typical A320/B737...I have to select ONE aircraft to cover my medium haul routes and they're mostly at the limit of the above mentioned aircraft capabilities and beyond. Also, I bought them dirt cheap. 20-40M
4. Even if I had fully covered said demand already? I don't think so sir. Again, a normally sized airline isn't doing this due to such a slight meaningless profit. Major airlines are because they're making soooo much money, its nothing to them. Which also begs the question...why be so greedy. And yes, I think it's downright greed. Billions made in a month or quarter or 6 months or a year and placing planes on routes that were fully occupied then driving prices down. Imho, if I was a new player and this happened in my first experience, I'd never return. Especially when the response of these major airline operators is "well have you looked at your airline fleet etc etc" and not a clear and moral justification for making life harder for new and casual players to enjoy this sim.
5. I know but that does not mean anything as imho it does not justify what you mega rich airlines are doing.
6. Do they NEED to even if that were the case. Also, please note...on most of these routes I am speaking of...THAT is NOT the case.
7. I didn't leave so how does this apply to me exactly?
8. My goal is to run a healthy business. Not to expand by all means necessary which is clearly what you mega Airlines are doing. Again...did you need to extra, minute income? Nope. Yet you'd rather place your planes EVERYWHERE. Sorry for the caps but I am a big disappointed in these responses. They're very vague and assuming.
3. In the 80's/90's, the 757 is probably your only choice with a single fleet type until the higher range 737/A320s become available. If you split it into two fleet types, then the 767 for longer routes and 727 -> 737 classic or A320 would work in the 80s.
4. It's not greed - this game is a business simulation. The point of business in a capitalist world is to maximize the use of the business's assets for the benefit of its shareholders - basically, maximize profit.
5. See justification in reply 4.
6. See justification in reply 4.
7. You stated "The ones that did, I placed planes on with intent to SHARE the market and not try to drop prices and fight like it was another airline based at the same airport I'm in." which tells me that you did not supply all available demand from your HQ due to sharing.
Quote from: Douglas.Don on March 19, 2022, 06:55:04 AM
I wished I could get rid of my 747s by 2006. No chance. Tha ks to the likes of you. That is the truth. Not my marketing. Not ny aircraft choice. Not my demand. Nothing.
I'm actually adding 747s in HATF instead of retiring them as they're quite cheap compared to everything else.
Quote from: Douglas.Don on March 19, 2022, 06:55:04 AM
And that what I'm doing is not challenging? Do you have kids? No. And I can assume so given how much time a day it takes to run those massive airlines. No way you guys have businesses where you're getting g calls from overseas at 4am. Or calls from emergency elservices regarding the tenants at your property. Or kids who need 24/7 times and care. I don't have more than 30mins at most e ery 1 or 2 days.
I spend a minimal amount of time playing these days - in HATF, I'll go weeks between doing things and probably spend less time than the 30 mins every 1-2 days that you do. I have two kids, two businesses, am studying for a large certification and about to embark on a house building project. As Andre pointed out, TTPP is probably more challenging of a location than running in large airports in the margins where the big guys can't touch you.
Quote from: Douglas.Don on March 19, 2022, 06:55:04 AM
I'm sorry, I can't. This is why I lose interest in this game. The community doesn't exist. Just the elites. What sort of replies are those maaan. :,(
All these things you mentioned most of which has nothing to do with the topic...how am I meant to accept that? Just a beautifully made game. Very complex only to have it ruined by billion dollar corporations who insist on pooping on the little guys. Lol
If other countries were accessible to you...you'd have ran everyone but your alliances out the airline industry lol.
I wished I could get rid of my 747s by 2006. No chance. Tha ks to the likes of you. That is the truth. Not my marketing. Not ny aircraft choice. Not my demand. Nothing.
I refuse to fight or downsize. I will upgrade my fleet if I can but compared to a few years back, this is abysmal. I have not endured such adamant, uber aggressive behaviour from you elite members...ever. I don't recall you guys placing aircraft on low demand saturated route pairs only to try and justify it by pointing fingers at the victims. Imagine making billions and still wanted someone else's market which you didn't even need.
I'm completely lost for words. You guys even lease planes out. Why do you need these low saturated markers? It IS NOT FUN. Maybe for YOU. You're describing how it's fun for you and having the cheek to tell me...that I should do this also? And that what I'm doing is not challenging? Do you have kids? No. And I can assume so given how much time a day it takes to run those massive airlines. No way you guys have businesses where you're getting g calls from overseas at 4am. Or calls from emergency elservices regarding the tenants at your property. Or kids who need 24/7 times and care. I don't have more than 30mins at most e ery 1 or 2 days.
I don't even know what else to say but I'm sure if I looked through the archives when I was young..these were the exact same responses I read from you guys regarding people's genuine and rughtful complaints.
Sorry if this came across emotional but I am. Let's see what happens. Continue to squeeze.
90 % of large airlines are not targeting smaller ones they just need to put their planes somewhere. Most routes are profitable up to around 170%, (and way higher like 250% when fuel is low) demand saturation when picking the correct plane types so why not compete?
Also, running a large airline does not take nearly as long as you think, Im a full time student and work part time, and I still have enough time to run 2-3 large airlines. Most of the time, the only time consuming thing is scheduling, (actually adding flights to the plane) and everything else is auto pilot. Every price is set to 1.04 default no matter what, I don't touch staff, maintenance, prices, ect. Adding seven planes in a 30 minute play time quite easy, and when scheduling longhual 15mins is more than enough. At this rate, even with just 30 mins a day running a large airline should be no problem.
After most large airline add flights to a plane, they also wont modify anything about those planes until they are getting too old, so all there is to do is find new markets to add planes too. Thats why someone added flights competing with you, it was more profitable to fly competing with you than leaving the planes on the ground, and it doesn't cost the player much effort or time.
Also if really easy to make a profit with competition, its one of the funnest parts of the game. As a small airline, from an economic perspective if you make the right choices it should be possible, and not too difficult to survive an attack from a large competitor. If you cant do so, instead of getting frustrated at elite members who to me are giving you valid criticism, you could try learn things from the experienced players and improve. I see many users on discord and the forums happily learning and improving, and those are the players who I see becoming the mega airlines after some time.
Quote from: knobbygb on March 17, 2022, 10:07:46 AM
That's a very well written explanation of your situation rather than some of the rants we see here.
Well, that didn't take long to turn into a rant after all! ???
This is a competitive multiplayer online game. The
big bad evil players put a lot of time and energy into the game. In order to be in the top spots you need to fly to as many destinations as possible with as high a frequency as possible. You can do the same. I usually don't because it's too much work so I choose a niche and make the most out of it. You can play many successful styles but you need to respect other players' choices. This is much more fun than playing against predictable computer opponents.
Mike
Stupid question : what is your pricing policy?
I tend to be at standard +10% (bar cutthroat opposition), and it works even with low company image. It gives a huge boost over standard pricing. I also reprice every 2 years or so. Since when didn't you reprice your lines?