Longhaul with narrowbody

[mp81]

I can't remember. Does AWS pentalize loadfactor when flying narrowbody on longhaul, even if the aircraft can fly the route?

[groundbum2]

yes.maybe.sometimes.

1) Planes have an attractiveness factor, though we can't see it anywhere. So Concorde is A++, some Russian heap is D-. That influences LF, but only a tiny bit. Aircraft age (perhaps your entire fleet average age) also influences LF a tiny tiny part. Pax prefer newer planes.

2) "too small". A fleet (eg A320/321/319) has a average cabin cross-section. So A3xx fleet has smaller cabin cross section that the MD11/DC10 fleet. This width determines when you'll see a "too small" warning creating a new route. You won't see "too small" for a route with less than 330 daily pax. You'll see it if the route at the far range of the plane. Also it depends on the decade. So Britannias can fly UK-JFK quite happily in the 1960s without warning, but as 707s/DC8s start to arrive Britannias in the 1980s will start getting "too small". "too small" is not a guillotine, if you get the warning it doesn't mean you'll get zero pax. It's on a sliding scale. So it could mean you lose a few %LF, or yes it could mean you get next to nothing. Depends how extreme the range is and how small the cabin. Also depends on the competition on the route. If there is none you'll still get pax. So your regional jet will do well. But when somebody puts a 737/A321 on the route all your pax will go to the bigger plane overnight.

Tech stop- not good for pax. Cargo doesn't care. 1 tech means 50% of the pax won't consider your airline, 2 tech stop means 90% of pax won't consider your airline at all. Not so bad in the early days say DC6 when planes just didn't have the range and passengers accepted it as part of long haul travel.

Simon

[schro]

The only thing that impacts load factor is seats sold and seats available for sale.

In general, if the plane can fly the route and is not deemed too small, then it will be just as competitive as any other plane with all other factors remaining constant.

The too small penalty is based on total number of average seats able to be installed across the type and factors in the length of the route flown along with demand to determine what, if any, penalty is applied.

If I'm not mistaken, the 757 no longer has a penalty on any route that it can fly. The 737/a320 types have a much lower average seat count due to smaller variants and will tap out sooner, along with MD 80/90s before that thanks to the 4 717 variants.

From an economic perspective, flying 100 seats beyond 1500-2000 miles really doesn't make sense. If you get to 150-200, the economics improve vastly.

[mp81]

Thanks for the input!