I have checked that there was no similar suggestion before
Well, now the only way for us to play with AM is operate the routes and set the price for tickers.
However I discovered that so many users claimed that they operate charter airlines (or services),
but AM do not support this, it seems that charter services are so attractive to users.
Also, after some times the market will become saturated (also happen in private worlds, 4 players blood-bath in TATL
)
the original way to play AM is not enough for a little bit longer game (let say, 4~5 years)
So, my suggestion is to add charter services in AM, by the combination of aircrft lease and normal route features.
1. in the AM upper bar, add a new button like "Create Charter"
2. in this part the procedures are just like creating a normal route, choose base and destination, select aircraft...
3. in the page of the price, the user can still determine the price and frequency (0.5 or 1 or 1.5....sth like that)
BUT in charter services, the price that determined is actually the "service charge"
which is the money that "the secret agent" willing to pay to you for your charter service
and there is no longer a "load factor", but the "deal or no deal" decision
Users need to determine the highest price that the "agent" will make a deal with you, just like getting 100% load
IN ADDITION, there is a selection of "period" in terms of months and I would explain it later
4. after the user finally the creation, the route will start operate
however the route will collect the revenue ONCE at the beginning of each month (or immediately after the route is being created)
just like leasing the plane to the others
Also, in the background operation there are some differences with the normal service
1. ONLY ONE charter service is allowed for one route, but there is no limit for normal service
2. in the pricing section the factors affect the price are as follow:
==> Size of airport - it is obvious than the airport have more people the price can be higher, like the normal service
However the demand of the small airport may need to be increased by the formula
==> Distance, frequency, aircraft size - again, like the normal service
==> Competitors for the route - again, like the normal service
BUT the impact of the competitors is much larger and will strongly push your price down
reason is simple: the needs of charter services is reduced if there is normal services
==> The number of routes in airports - again, if the airports have more routes
the passengers may choose normal services by interchange of routes, making the demand of charter lower
but the impact is much weaker, and only one airport with less routes will be considered
so if one of the airport has no route at all, this factor will have no impact to the pricing
==>"Period" - the longer the period, the lower the price, but the impact is not so strong
3. The "period" set during the route creation will act as a protection to the service provider
The theory is: when you set up a charter service, you will have the contract with the "agent"
within that period no one can cancel the route and change the price
so, although new user may put you into competiton, in the period you can also get the revenue as stated
it is different to normal one that a new competitor will immediately drive down your loadfactor and profit
When the period is ended, the service will be continue normal if there is no competition
but there will be no protection at all
Once there is a normal service compete with you, your charter service will be automatically cancelled
Of course after the period has ended you can extend the contract and set another new period (like edit route)
The above is the details of my suggestion, which is how a charter service function can be implemented
The advantages of this suggestion is:
1. there is no need for the staff to collect additional datas, like cargo or multi-class aircraft, things can be done by programming
2. the "value" of the small airports can be increased
since the large airports with many routes may not give you a good condition in charter services
3. Charter market is hardly saturated, although only one charter is allowed for a pair of airports, there are so many small airports that is suitable for charter services
Hope the staff can think about this suggestion
