I have run into an issue, You can either buy an aircraft that cannot profit due to fuel costs (727 early 737s and old props) or you can put yourself deep into debt for one (1) "good aircraft" (like a CRJ) is there some secret to the game that I am missing altogether or is it just all but impossible to start out with only 10 mil.
$10 million should get you started with around 6 CRJ's priced new, maybe more if you get a good price used. Should be enough to start building a hub on an existing server. The trouble can be that after the initial purchase, profits to buy more aircraft take a while.
Older jets can work well. It depends on how much you can buy them for. The age of the aircraft will hurt your image, but it will get you started. For example, a 25 year old 737-500 can turn a better profit per flight than a new 737-600, if you can fill it and buy it for around 20% of the original lease cost - and that should be possible in a good used market. Taking the 735, if you leased it at that sort of rate then your $10 million would easily stretch to > 15 planes.
Hi Loki,
the usual way to start an airline is to lease the aircrafts. I would not use the loan purchase function because this is highly unprofitable in 99% of the cases (the only exeption I can think of is to use it as a short term option, i.e. pay back the loan withhin a very short timescale, one week or so...but this is not relevant for a startup airline). If you buy aircraft you will of course have larger profits within a given period of time, but you will invest a large amount of money which could be used to pay the leasing deposits for other aircraft (so you have to balance these two, in the beginning it is usual better to lease the aircraft). An other thing to consider is the flexibility. If you have a fleet of leased aircraft you can get rid of them easily within on week if you want to change strategy or in times of low demand, which can be quiet difficult if you own the aircraft. You are only guarenteed to get 10% of the aircrafts value back, possibly much more if you find somebody who wants to buy the aircraft - but this is not always the case.
So the conclusion is: Start with leased aircrafts, I would rather lease new ones than old ones, but this a question of your personal strategy and how you want your airline to be like...
More important than building up a huge fleet right at the beginning is establishing your hub and services first. Having tried over, and over, and OVER to establish an airline on an existing server, I've learned quite a few tips, and that's one of the big ones. Here are a few others to decide before you should do anything.
* Decide if you want to use older planes or newer planes further down the line. Getting older planes and then swapping out for newer planes can be a hassle, and can make things difficult when it comes to putting in seats, changing slots, redirecting transfers, etc. Keep in mind that you really should only have three different types of maintenance categories, so that will somewhat limit you on what types of planes you can fly with this first airline. Also understand that older planes (such as 727s, 737-300s, MD-90s, etc) are not being made anymore. If you get going well, buying more to help your airline will be difficult. That's why I try to at least keep one of my maintenance categories in something that is currently being made and is churning out airplanes (737-NGs are a good example).
* Experiment. Try different things, such as cabin configurations and on-board services. Get a high rating, especially on an established game world. There are monstrous airlines on those worlds that will crush a poorly run startup airline. Learn what gets you good ORS ratings, and use them.
* Stick to your hub. You don't have to make it in a huge airport. Even an 8-bar or 7-bar can work. Don't fly planes all over the country. Stick to ones that are close and are of high ratings. Try opening up routes from your hub to different places and see if someone is already doing that route. If no one is, give it a try. I found some really neat routes that no one was using and turned them into gold mines for my airline that was on Nicosia (before I got crushed by one of those huge airlines).
* Learn your hub. Learn where you should fly from and to. Check how many passengers you are getting, on average, for each flight during each demand calculation. Do your homework. It really helps.
* Transfers are very, very important. You want transfers. So make sure you get flights that can transfer, preferably through your hub, to other flights in your schedule. Run waves of planes.
* Don't do long-haul flights to start. They will be a huge drag on your money, especially if you are starting in an established game world.
* This game/simulation is not a sprint. It's a marathon. Don't expect to make $100 million in your first weeks or months. It won't happen, especially on an older world. Be sustainable. Check out the other airlines on the game and see what they've done. Keep track of changes, correct for mistakes, and keep your airline solvent, meaning turning a profit every week, even if it's only a million or so.
I'm sure there are a bunch of other things I could say, but that's all I can think of right now. :)
I have run into an issue, You can either buy an aircraft that cannot profit due to fuel costs (727 early 737s and old props) or you can put yourself deep into debt for one (1) "good aircraft" (like a CRJ) is there some secret to the game that I am missing altogether or is it just all but impossible to start out with only 10 mil.
Hi,
I think you missed the secret altogether ;-)
There are a lot of valuable hints above, but allow me to explain exactly how to lease a new plane.
Go to the Manufacterer's page
Choose the plane you are looking for and open the page with detailed information about the plane
Scroll down to "Order Aircraft" and click on "Request quotation"
Scroll down and check "Leasing purchase"
Click on "Place order"
You have now ordered a new plane ;-)
When players talk about buying, they usually mean leasing. When leasing, you pay a deposit of 5% of the price of that plane. And at the end of every week you pay the lease (0.5% of the price). If you actually buy a plane, you need to pay it in cash or ask a loan from the bank. That loan, and the intrest, will kill you.
My advice is to forget old planes. You operate more planes, and you carry more passengers. But you don't make more profit. And as Davp said, they hurt your airline image.
Have fun with the game !
Jan
Well, thanks. I am experimenting right now with cargo lines, cargo doesn’t care if you fly it in ancient aircraft. In Meigs you only have one major cargo line. Is this wise, from what I’ve seen it makes a good profit. Any unforeseen issues with this?
Cargo is fun, but sometimes a bit more difficult, since you have to get to know a lot of new airports. In real life, you do know that lots of people travel from Heathrow to New York JFK. But in "Cargo world", cargo loves to travel from SDF to ANC. Or LUX to SDF. Just two examples.
If you want good advice in cargo, please feel free to contact me 
My main airline operates mainly classic aircraft (Boeing 757s and DC-9/MD-80/-90/717s) alongside the more modern A32S-family. It is possible to be profitable as long as you take a close eye on important factors: Optimal seating-configurations for each type, optimal utilization and route-profiles for these aircraft.
The most important aspect of an airline is a sustainable and individual concept IMO. I tend to stick with a concept which works for me. This is the basis for enhancements, expansion, and development. Take care that you have a concept which includes at least one hub. A large hub generates volume through connections offered and works in the interest of your airline and your IL-partners. I also tend to “expect” the lower efficiency of classic aircraft. The “calculated inefficiency” is a very important consideration for me when it comes to the scheduling of such aircraft. The much lower investments and leasing-costs largely outweigh the lower efficiency. I also have my share of experience with Boeing 727s and Boeing 737-200s. Both types can be operated profitably but I would recommend using less problematic aircraft.
Regards
Alrighty , I do know many real airports (I made my HQ in TOL) but it is good to know that it is possible to profit with the 727 Freighter. Does age effect cargo image? How does the image system work? Again sorry, but I am clueless.
Never use 727. Almost impossible to make a profit. Go with ATR 72-500's, Boeing 737-300 (or 700C), and larger planes like MD10, MD11, Boeing 747-400, and if available at your server 757-200F is the ultimate.
I never operated the 727 freighter but I fear that this aircraft is too expensive to operate. The 727-200 can be operated profitably but this really depends on some important factors. I don´t know about the cargo image and influence of aircraft-age. Personally I don´t care about image and I think that cargo has no opinion (except animals perhaps).