Expand or Phase Out?

[neo]

Take my airline as an example, I am having a deficit of €-8,451,361
when new planes come in, should I :
A) Continue to expand my destinations (Currently 73 destinations)?
B) Phase out the older planes with the new planes having more seats

Update:
I have decide the following strategy, in light of the following comments
1st: Those profitable routes are upgraded to larger planes
2nd: When the smaller planes are empty, it is put to domestic UK routes

and now, easyJet are flying 93 destinations!!!




My route map for your reference

[dnt62]

depends, whats your DOP?

If it is reasonably good then phase out the old ones and sell up

or

Phase the old ones out then put the old ones on New routes.

up to you

[iranair777]

if i was you I would expand. dont replace other planes until you can throw money away. only replace planes where you think you will be able to make more money (i.e. if I was with a Beech C99 from LHR-CDG I would upgrade it to for eg a 737 as it will give me a little bit more profit)

[beirut785]

i will do both replace some major routes to big cities 1st since u have no cash then open new routes

[AirHanoverInternational]

Most times it is better to expand instead of replacing (if the small aircrafts still have a nice DOP). But your strategy is different than mine. You seem to connect all the major airports to your base while I mainly connect the closest airports first.

[neo]

Most times it is better to expand instead of replacing (if the small aircrafts still have a nice DOP). But your strategy is different than mine. You seem to connect all the major airports to your base while I mainly connect the closest airports first.

I have tried to connect most UK large airports, and France and Germany..
the small airports seems not yielding much profit.

[lhenning]

I´m doing like this. When I have new and better planes arriving a let them replace the older planes on the most profitable routes. And with the old planes I start new routes.

[AirHanoverInternational]

I have tried to connect most UK large airports, and France and Germany..
the small airports seems not yielding much profit.

If you have longer routes you can fly less routes that may result in lower DOP.

Example (may not be 100% correct as I am not based at LHR):

You fly LHR - MAD with a DOP 180k.

On the other hand you could fly to six smaller airports in UK (consuming the same amount of time). Each route may give you a 50k profit = 300k. In this case it is more than from one longer route even if you have some more gate costs.

[zkvac]

Most times it is better to expand instead of replacing (if the small aircrafts still have a nice DOP). But your strategy is different than mine. You seem to connect all the major airports to your base while I mainly connect the closest airports first.

I have tried to connect most UK large airports, and France and Germany..
the small airports seems not yielding much profit.

Don't do that. You need to connect EVERY airport in range of your planes to make the most profit. Just have a a look at my airline, I'm the best in Australasia by a long way:
http://www.airlinemogul.com/airlinemogul/view_airline.php?id=6785

[yourefired]

Do you have an operating loss? If you're running on an operating loss, you have better things to worry about. Personally, I prefer to phase out and introduce newer, better, faster planes but people have different opinions on this issue.

I went with a similar strategy as you (go to major airports first) out of JFK in world 6, and while what works for me may or may not work for you, but I decided to phase out old jumpstarts (the 9 seaters that cruise along at like, 120 knots) and the Beech with Gulfstream jets and I'm currently making about 30-40% more on each route than I used to. So it frankly depends. There's no one strategy for all airlines because they're all uniquely different. I'd suggest moving up to bigger planes, but again, there's a lot of squabbling on this issue.

[faulknertbc]

Don't upgrade your planes unless necessary.  When you notice competitors placing more seats on a route, that is the time to begin matching the equipment.  Put your highest capacity aircraft on busy routes with multiple competitors.  You  "take" passengers off their planes.  It's not very profitable to put your newest airframes on uncontested routes.  I agree with Hanover's strategy of multiple short routes usually paying off better than one long route.  Your best income will come from large airports in close vicinity.  Note that as the game progresses the competition at these airports will eventually drive your prices down to being unprofitable...this is when you should switch strategies to long cross-country or international flights from big airports to smaller ones some distance away.  There isn't much point in selling your airplanes unless you are severely strapped for cash.  Even a small plane will pay for itself again every few days...the only reason to replace it is if you have so much money and so many planes that your aircraft are sitting unused because you have literally run out of route segments to attach them to.  I shift my older equipment to new routes and place new equipment on the most profitable routes.  I hope this advice makes the game more enjoyable for you.

[Penguinboy]

If it's becoming impossible to hold onto a route, just drop it.  If you can, find a smaller, less crowded one.

[Fox Airways]

small profits are better than none.

[justinm]

we play a similar style. and i agree with what others have said. put your new planes on the bigger routes then open shorter routes with the hours left on the old planes. if your bigger plane has an hour or so left and it cant get to the better airports anymore you can always put it in a short route to a good airport filled with smaller planes to mess up their load factor.

[royaloyal]

Not sure why you are in the hole, maybe because you are renting too much planes?

If you buy new planes, you should definitely phase out your rented planes and return them, unless they are really cheap leases

If you all your planes are brought and you have time on your hand, then phase out your older aircraft to low return routes, and put the new aircraft in high return routes

If phasing out is too time consuming, then just open more routes to closer but smaller airports, they tend to generate decent revenues

Both strategy should get you out of the hole