I was wondering if adding extra ticket costs such as baggage,fastrack and even credit crd payment depending on the region you are in would be possible to include as this would lower an airlines rating but for newbie like me it would provide an extra source of much needed money. Also you could add a frequent flier card when you have made a certain number of departures from an airport this woud lower the cost of fuel and other fees by a given percentage depending on the number of departures made.
Items such as baggage included/extra and fasttrack sure are viable and have been proposed before.
The concept of your frequent flier card does not really convince me, because the AS system is working with a global fuel price. Moreover, the reduction in fees would lead to imbalances, as bigger airlines pay lower fees. So much for newbie support .
the rating of your flights decide whether passengers like your flights or not. Higher ratings (higher than the competition) means you get more passengers. It also means you can increase your prices a bit without loosing passengers.
If you charge passengers for every piece of luggage, for credit card payments, for on-board food & beverage… your flights will get a lower rating. And lower ratings (lower than the competition) means you will get less passengers.
Whatever service or option you add to the system, it will influence your rating in a positive or negative way. The bottom line will always be: if you want more cash, you can raise the prices of your tickets, or lower the quality of your service. But both will lower the ratings of your flights. And that could have an opposite effect… lower ratings => lower load factor => less profit.
My advice for a good profit margin:
decent load factors: aim at an average load factor of 90%
stick to your business model: high quality and high prices, low quality and low prices
use the ORS to compare your ratings with the competition
I am not against more options. I only want to point out giving less service or charging more money will never be the simple solution that solves your financial problems.
And as far as your suggestion about cheaper fuel for good customers is concerned, I agree with Plotz.
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