Half Routes vs. Unused Time Left On Planes

[Dooskie III]

Better to fill plane time by running half routes or have some time left on planes and run full routes? i.e., difference on one route was 71k for a half route, 88k for a full route. Opinions?  

[Jacko-Smitha]

Longer International Flights i do .5 frequencies as i can reach more international places with the time left over regional,s 1 frequencies as with .5 u lose too much m,oney

[fenati2]

Longer International Flights i do .5 frequencies as i can reach more international places with the time left over regional,s 1 frequencies as with .5 u lose too much m,oney

same here.
also, as i have more incoming new aircrafts then i have time to alocate them, i rater left hours in one acft and open a new 24h acft than putting 0.5 frequencies.

[crayzeehorse]

Hello!

I'm brand new to this addiction and I gotta question about this topic: If I have a route frequency that is "0.5" - does that mean that the aircraft is used for exactly half the time than it would be for a "1" frequency??

If so, then should I always consider putting a route as "0.5" if it looks like it will make more than 50% of a "1" frequency?

Hope this makes sense... please be kind (my first post here   )

[Chavaquiah]

If I have a route frequency that is "0.5" - does that mean that the aircraft is used for exactly half the time than it would be for a "1" frequency??

Yes. It does one leg of the trip one day, the return leg next day. So, half the time (each day) of a full round-trip.

If so, then should I always consider putting a route as "0.5" if it looks like it will make more than 50% of a "1" frequency?

Each plane can normally only have two "half" frequencies (no teleportation allowed). Other than this limitation yes, half frequencies are the most efficient.

Remember, however, than on each route (flights between the same pair of airports) an airline cannot have more than two planes with half-frequencies.

[pseudoswede]

From what you are describing, if you have enough hours to fill a 1-freq route for 88k, that means you can find two 0.5-freq routes that pay ~71k each. You do the math.

Out of my 540-ish planes in service, I have only six planes with no more than 1 hour remaining

[Dooskie III]

From what you are describing, if you have enough hours to fill a 1-freq route for 88k, that means you can find two 0.5-freq routes that pay ~71k each. You do the math.

Out of my 540-ish planes in service, I have only six planes with no more than 1 hour remaining

What I am saying is that if I have six planes available for a route with 4 hours left on them and they will only service a route for a one-way trip, or I've got one plane with five hours on it  that will take care of the entire route, and there is no chance at all that I can use the four hours for anything else on those other six planes, which way is the best way to go? Go one full route, knowing that I'm going to be leaving hours unused on those planes forever, or just go a half route and put those four hours to use?
 

[Dooskie III]

From what you are describing, if you have enough hours to fill a 1-freq route for 88k, that means you can find two 0.5-freq routes that pay ~71k each. You do the math.

Out of my 540-ish planes in service, I have only six planes with no more than 1 hour remaining

So how does the math work out if you are running 2 x .5 routes but are taking up that more gate space? Also, are you saying that out of your 540-ish planes in service, that 534 of them have more than one hour of service left on them?  

[pseudoswede]

What I am saying is that if I have six planes available for a route with 4 hours left on them and they will only service a route for a one-way trip, or I've got one plane with five hours on it  that will take care of the entire route, and there is no chance at all that I can use the four hours for anything else on those other six planes, which way is the best way to go? Go one full route, knowing that I'm going to be leaving hours unused on those planes forever, or just go a half route and put those four hours to use?
 

What that means is that you could've probably used better route planning to fit the six planes' routes into five planes. And that (now spare) sixth plane would've added even more DOP.

Like in real life, airplanes don't make money sitting on the tarmac.

Of course, that may all change once cycles and airframe hours come into effect.

[pseudoswede]

From what you are describing, if you have enough hours to fill a 1-freq route for 88k, that means you can find two 0.5-freq routes that pay ~71k each. You do the math.

Out of my 540-ish planes in service, I have only six planes with no more than 1 hour remaining

So how does the math work out if you are running 2 x .5 routes but are taking up that more gate space? Also, are you saying that out of your 540-ish planes in service, that 534 of them have more than one hour of service left on them?  

So long as you're making a good profit on those two 0.5-freq routes, does it matter? If you're based at a 250k airport, and have a 0.5-freq flight to a 150k airport, you only need to make €7,292 per month on that flight to break even on gate costs (even less if you have other flights to that 150k airport).

As for my other statement. Um...I route-plan so that all my planes have anywhere between 0.01-0.15 hours left. A few fell through the cracks, but, most likely, they have somewhere between 0.5-0.75 hours left.

[crayzeehorse]

If I have a route frequency that is "0.5" - does that mean that the aircraft is used for exactly half the time than it would be for a "1" frequency??

Yes. It does one leg of the trip one day, the return leg next day. So, half the time (each day) of a full round-trip.

If so, then should I always consider putting a route as "0.5" if it looks like it will make more than 50% of a "1" frequency?

Each plane can normally only have two "half" frequencies (no teleportation allowed). Other than this limitation yes, half frequencies are the most efficient.

Remember, however, than on each route (flights between the same pair of airports) an airline cannot have more than two planes with half-frequencies.

  Many thanks for the explanation, now I'll see if I can make a bit more profit...