Messages

1

Suggestions / Re: Some suggestions

« on: March 12, 2012, 10:06:54 am »

Many thanks for your reply.

To wrap it up, I take it from your email that my suggestions 1) 3) and 7) have already been considered/discussed and we'll see some changes in the future.

I disagree with you on gate expenses (suggestion 5). It is an AM myth that they are almost irrelevant. I have made an excel simulation and renting one slot instead of ten (if you just need one) would generate monthly savings in the range of 7%-12% depending on many factors, such as competition, aircraft used, etc. Now, multiply this for a large number of routes and you'll see what a huge difference in millions it makes.
Also, there are other side-effects: Would create an additional source of revenue for airlines with unused slots AND if this is tied up to alliance membership then it'd boost the whole Alliance thing.

Regarding point 7), I haven't used any brokers yet, but it seems to me that by using them you only get a few months' credit (24, 48 or 72 days), depending on the aircraft ordered. I was talking about a longer term financing and or leasing.

Any comments about suggestions 2) and 4) of my previous email?

Oh, and regarding your answer number : I know there is a huge variety of different worlds to choose from, and I have never doubted that each player is free to join the world(s) they want. I just explained why I didn't like small worlds, and the consequences of having few airports to fly to/from.

Best regards,

Jose

2

Game Strategy / How to deal with fierce competition?

« on: March 11, 2012, 03:15:18 pm »

Hello everybody!

In some routes, I have all kinds of competitors flying aircraft of all sizes from a Fokker 100 to a 777-200, and frequencies going from 0.5 to 2.

Would like to know what strategy achieves the best performance in routes with many competitors.
Larger, same or smaller aircraft?
With less/more frequencies?

Many thanks

Jose

3

Suggestions / Some suggestions

« on: March 11, 2012, 02:19:40 pm »

Hello everybody!

I apologize if some of my suggestions have been discussed in the past.
After completing 2 games in Airline Mogul, I think there's a few things that could be improved:

1) Airlines should be able to offer First and/or Business class. It would make the game more interesting as CEOs would have to choose configurations when ordering aircraft and then price accordingly. It would also make competition more interesting. I have seen in other -lesser- online games that you can decide what kind of seats and IFE you want to furnish your planes with, and will be charged accordingly when ordering them.

2) While creating a new route/flight, would it be possible to see the available aircraft BEFORE the route being created and charged? If you don't have an aircraft with enough hours then you don't create the route and you don't get charged for it. This is only fair as I think that with the actual information (aircraft aprox. available hours) is not enough to estimate whether it can make a flight or not.

3) More maintenance costs information and details would be very much appreciated, as it would help CEOs decide when it's time to let go an aircraft. Having said that, I'm not happy with the actual maintenance costs model. I run a reasonably healthy airline, with a fleet of 120, a monopoly on many routes, and little competition on others, a very high aircraft utilization, and a young fleet, (average 1.2 years) and still, maintenance costs are eating half of my monthly revenue. If I stop all expansion and start replacing aircraft at a 1 to 1 ratio, by the time I'd replaced the last one, I'd have to start replacing all over again. Last month I was charged over 300,000,000 (Three hundred millions) for a fleet of 120 (not all of them delivered, and not one of them 3 years old).

4) As much as I support deregulation, I believe some limits should be in place. I have seen routes flown by 20 airlines, some of them even offering 12 daily flights for 1E. It seems like some players don't want to build a decent airline and make a profit, just muddle things up. And long after they are out of business, we still see their flights poaching a good share of the passengers in that route. A possible solution would be to limit to 5-6 the number of airlines that can be based in a particular airport. First come, first served.

5) Do all gates really need to be bought/rented in batches of 10? What if you ONLY need one slot? Still pay full price for it? Why not offer "half gates" (5 slots) or allow slot renting between alliance members? An interesting source of revenue!

6) Why don't aircraft makers offer any credit facilities? Two prices could be offered for every aircraft: Cash (cheaper) and Credit (example, 10 instalments). Credit not to exceed -for example- 10-20% of the Airline's Value.

7) Something should be done with big aircraft, they can't be THAT inefficient. I have up-gauged routes without competition from an Airbus 319 to an Airbus 330, and found I'm making less money now. If the number of passengers in the route is "Excellent" (more than 2500 per day) then I should be able to charge the same price whether I am offering 140 or 290 seats, as I'm still not catching up with demand, and this is where big aircraft become VERY profitable.  I know AM has a preference for smaller aircraft, but I don't find any logic in the current arrangements.

And last but not least, I have come to the conclusion that small worlds are not worth to be played, allowing up to 4 bases in a 25 airport scenario like Europe limits creativity and encourages merciless price wars as there are not many expansion possibilities. It pretty much limits the game to who has the largest aircraft and charges less on the same route. It also makes long haul aircraft unprofitable, as there are very few places they can fly in their spare hours (sometimes even 11 hours per day!).

Many thanks anyway for this amazing and free game!

Jose
CONNECT's C.E.O

4

General Chat / Re: Does the game end TODAY?

« on: January 09, 2012, 09:51:08 pm »

Ok guys, many thanks for your answers... So my life has suddenly become meaningless without my Airline CEO Job   
When does the next public world start? I want to be able to join from day 1!

5

General Chat / Does the game end TODAY?

« on: January 09, 2012, 08:11:09 pm »

Sorry if it's a stupid question, but I keep reading that the Public World ends today at 18 h +.

It's 20:10 in London and I can still access my airline and play!

6

Game Strategy / Re: Maintenance Cost, Different Aircraft Types

« on: December 27, 2011, 02:30:13 pm »

Thank you very much Matias for your sound advice.

Your message devastated me, though, as I had assumed that, as in the real world, lessees and not lessors paid the maintenance bill. I have been very "smart" and have leased out every unwanted old aircraft at ridiculously low rates. Now I understand why, despite operating a reasonably young fleet, my monthly bills eat up almost all the money I make, and push me several places down on the main ranking at the end of the month.

And I guess there is NOTHING I can do but wait for the leases to expire and then scrap them ASAP?  In the real world I would display my great customer service skills and offer the lessees to replace their aircraft for brand new ones for the rest of the contract, but I guess this is not an option here.

Don't know how to paste a link to my airline in this post, but I'm SUPERFLY. Have a look at the bills, they are insane!!... lol

7

Game Strategy / Re: Maintenance Cost, Different Aircraft Types

« on: December 26, 2011, 07:21:01 am »

I have a similar problem and maintenance bills are killing me. (About 50% of my total monthly income!) 
Is there a way to look at the maintenance costs for each aircraft so that we can get rid of the most expensive first?

8

Bugs / Re: Wrong Focus City Opening Charges

« on: November 23, 2011, 01:23:25 pm »

OK Many thanks!

9

Bugs / Re: incorrect gates rental fees

« on: November 23, 2011, 01:19:13 pm »

I think gate rental charges should be proportional to the remaining number of days in the month when the gate is first rented.
Why pay full fees if you rent a gate on the 15th?

10

Bugs / [NaB] Wrong Focus City Opening Charges

« on: November 23, 2011, 12:44:49 pm »

Hi, I'm Jose, SUPERFLY's C.E.O. Our airline is based in Baghdad, Iraq. Now trying to make Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, a focus city. We have rented the 4 required gates, but the system is charging us 6.000.000 to move forward. We believe this is a mistake, if this new city belongs to the same country as our base, the standard chage of 3.000.000 should apply. Please explain!
Many thanks