Hi All!
I searched the forums & not found anything in regards to what I’d like to do re: an aircraft swap.
Very simply, my question is, I wish to upgrade to a larger a/c for a scheduled that’s running on a smaller a/c. BUT, I need the $$$ return from terminating the lease on the smaller a/c to lease the larger a/c &, obviously, I don’t want the present bookings on the smaller a/c to all get canceled.
Thus, my question. If I were to delete the schedule for the smaller aircraft whose lease I intend to terminate…the scheduling for the a/c would still remain intact for 3 days. Once I terminate the lease, and the a/c is returned & I bid for the larger aircraft…what happens to the schedule? Ex: Flights #1, #2, #3, #4 are being flown by the smaller aircraft whose lease I’m terminating…they’re fully booked 3 days out…the schedule for the smaller aircraft has been deleted but flights 1-2-3-4 remain in the system without an aircraft assigned. CAN I, upon winning the bid for the new aircraft, simply assign it to flights 1-2-3-4 and chose “activate” immediately & it will then “pick up” all the flights in the system that are scheduled----were assigned to the smaller aircraft being returned, but have been delated from that aircraft…and not have much of a disruption (I know some flights would be cancelled)???
Basically, since flights 1-2-3-4 remain booked and in the system…when the smaller aircraft lease is returned…and for the 1-1.5hrs prior to the bigger aircraft bid being one, will bookings for flights 1-2-3-4 disappear 'cause I won’t have sufficient a/c in my fleet…or will the flights remain in the system and booked, and all I need do is swap in the larger aircraft once I get it and assign it to flights 1-2-3-4 an “activate” it immediately???
SORRY FOR THE LENGTH, WANTED TO BE THOROUGH. I greatly appreciate any/all feedback…and if this question is in the incorrect forum, just let me know.
Many thanks!
-David
Hi David!
That is a very thorough question.
The simple answer is no. Ones the flights have been created you can not move them to any other plane. If the aircraft gets returned to the lessor you don’t have to pay any cancellation fees. If you cancel the flights manually you will have to pay compensation to the passengers. As your flights wont be cancelled manually you don’t need to worry about that, it wont cost you anything.
The flight numbers will remain intact and you can simply transfer them over to the new plane and simply recreate the schedule (if your new plane has the same speed and turnaround time). Or you could just take a screenshot of the schedule and copy it in the new plane.
I wonder why you would want to upgrade a plane if you cant afford to keep both? It would surely be better for you to get the new one and use your old plane to open new routes. Ones you return your plane you will loose the seats which is a waste.
Hi Christian!!!
Thank you for being so gracious and thorough in response!!
I was unaware that no cancellation costs occur when an airplane that is in your schedule has it’s lease terminated!
I now understand that a newly leased plane can’t/won’t “take the place” of the plane whose lease is being terminated.
As for your question, “why not keep both”…I’ve just started in the new Quimby game world. I have 2 A321NEO Med & 2 EMB 195’S. I’m trying to run the airline based upon what I’ve read in these forums, and the return has thus far been far superior to airlines I’ve run in other game worlds. The one “rule”/logic that I’m sticking to is that AS in “all about connections”. Since it’s so early in the game…and I only have 2 EMB 195’s…and they’re on very busy routes…I can upgrade to a larger aircraft A320/737 & earn more of of the routes. It will also allow me to eliminate an aircraft group & perhaps replace it with just Airbus A32X’s so I have one aircraft type. Perhaps later, on thiner routes I will return to there 195 E2 (economics on that plane seem to be fantastic).
Christian…ONE LAST QUESTION…Once an airline goes to 4 different aircraft types, it incurs a 15% maintenance cost increase…BUT DID I READ THIS CORRECTLY…for every aircraft type beyond the 4, such as an airline adding a 5th and 6th type…the cost go up by another 15% every time??? Thanks a bunch!!!
-David
Yes, every additional category is 15%, so 6 categories would increase your maintenance costs by 45%.
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@rubiohiguey2000 beat me to it. Having more than 3 maintenance categories is in most cases pointless. Better to try to have 3 per airline and just found more subsidiaries if you need more categories.
I had a look at your carrier and personally I wouldn’t this early on replace planes. Better to wait until you can afford a new A321 and put your E195s on some new routes or add frequency. AS is all about connections and to get decent connections you will need more planes. 4 planes barely give you anything connection wise, you really want to get the number of planes up. That doesn’t mean you should be reckless, you should still think about unit cost. But to succeed in AS you will need connections and to easily get connections you need more planes.
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Terrific advice Christian!
Allow me to ask one additional question. In a previous game world, I found that it appeared wise to lease an identical plane to one that is in your fleet—so in. Quimby I would lease a new A321 NEO, & then terminate the lease on one of the A321NEO’s I have in my fleet (Obviously I would save enough $$$ to lease the new A321 NEO, and then terminate the lease on the A321 NEO in my fleet). I would then swap the newly leased A321 NEO into the schedule for the A321 NEO I’m terminating. Why? The leasing costs on the new A321 NEO are lower than the identical plane I have in my fleet. Thus once the terminated lease aircraft is returned I get my deposit back & can…generally at the start of a game world…lease another A321 NEO at a lower cost. The leasing costs appear to drop @ the start while aircraft sit on the market & airlines are growing & not leasing that many planes. My question…is this wise? I ask because I’m taking a “loss” on having to configure the newly leased plane, & I’m taking a loss on the seating that I’ve put into the plane I’m returning. Basically, is the “return” I’m getting—which is generally +250K in immediate savings on the deposit & then a lower weekly lease cost, worth doing this type of switch? Thanks a bunch! -David
Aircraft on the used market slowly decline in price until they go up again and start declining again. Watch out that other airlines can take the plane while it sits on the market and you might be left with nothing. Personally, I wouldn’t swap a plane that early in the game. My A321 configs cost about 300k and that is money I cant afford to loose. Also missing 1 day of flying can be quite expensive if you want to beat your competition in growth. Ones you have about 50 planes in your fleet you might want to start thinking about fleet renewals but until then just focus on growth. Simply, if you want to be the biggest you cant afford to change your fleet right now. Your A321s could be making about a million in profit every week and that 25k in savings is nothing compared to that.
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