Paid Slots

English Boards Suggestions and Ideas
1

This is an idea that I had pop in my head when trying to work out finding slots for some of my flights. What if an airline could play X number of dollars for an extra slot depending on and the price would be determined by the airplane size. So say I am needing an extra slot out of Boston (BOS) at 17:15 for my Int'l flight bank but there aren't any slots available. So I would request an extra slot from the airport. Lets say it cost me $10,000 dollars per slot per week for a 787-8. Since the 787-8 is a widebody it is on the higher side so it would need to be a profitable flight for me to acquire that slot. There is also a chance that I would have to acquire another slot for the arrival, so that is now $20,000 i have to take out of the profit of the flight however if it is full and set up correctly that isn't a terrible loss. 

I feel that this would be good in the older worlds where finding slots at some of the bigger airports is pretty challenging. In Templehof the slots in most major American airports in quite low. This would also be a nice way to help some of the newer players combat the problem of having slots only open 5 or 6 days a week as opposed to all 7.

Please tell me your thought or suggestions to this in the respo.nses

2

But this would mean the biggest airlines at these congested airports would just get bigger and therefore even less competition? Don’t get me wrong I’d love more slots at my hub airports but the main complaints are about mega airlines

3

There are reasons we have slots. Runway and parking availability are those of the example.

You could have so much money, but if there is no empty slot to park or to land, where would you go? 

You pay $10,000 to land on taxiway and park at the threshold area?

4

Hi,

It's like Ian said... rich airlines will buy slots and become richer.

If you want less congestion, or room for more players, put a maximum on the number of planes a holding can operate.

Cheers,

Jan

5

I wouldn't make extra slots, but have airlines pay for existing ones. The less overall slots available - the higher price for each owned slots. Right now there is no way to compete at congested airports. If slot prices were based only on airport congestion then flying small planes to congested airport would become unprofitable, and big airlines would use bigger planes instead of filing up every slot just to block competition.

6

You already pay much!!! higher per seat in landing fees for small aircraft.

7

My suggestion would be for minimum seat charging. So if an airport drops below says 10% slots, then the airport will minimum charge every aircraft as if it was delivering 50 pax, still below 10% after x time, it increases to 60, then 70 etc

8

This will always be a very sensitive topic. As far as I would be pleased to „get unlimited slots available“, this would have a negative impact for all those who want to serve my hub too.

It will be very difficult to please everyone affected. Maybe, a slot policy with reservations for new entrants and special protection would help?

For example: Slot X is available but my airline with a homebase and hub can´t take this slot (because of my market share at this airport) and this slot is only available to airlines who want to serve airport X for the first time.

During the first month or so, my airline is not allowed to change fares (to protect a new competitor from a fares war which can be more easily survived by a very big airline.

After a month, a slot could be available for all (including for my airline) if the new entrant suspends frequencies or „30% of all slots“ should be available for competitors only.

So many factors and ideas…

Other idea:

So, as an airport grows and with it the number of slots, I can grow too but I can´t take the entire batch of slots, because „30% must be offered to other airlines“.

As long as an airport is not growing, the situation won´t change but as soon as an airport is updated with new data, the additional slots could be distributed this way. This would allow me to grow too but at the same time, competition will be ensured because I can´t grab all slots.

This will allow be at my main airport to get additional slots too (and „I am a very important customer for this airport because I am so big and I will shut the main hub in case that you are not supporting my airline“) but the airport CEO can officially claim that they ensure that the incumbent still receives support for growth, but competition is also ensured.

Don´t get me wrong. I would be pleased in a very egoistic way to get every available slot at my main hubs and schedule additional flighst to my other hubs with a guarantee that my aircraft will be full but this policy would harm the fun factor within the game for those who just started.

Just my two cents and my airline is believed to be manufacturing domestically produced MD-80s in Indonesia in readiness for 5000 additional slots and 120 departures per hour from Jakarta to Surabaya alone, 60 additional hushkitted DC-8 Super 62s for international expansion and 400 additional Fokker F28s to serve the tiny Indonesian archipelago, including the possibility for passengers to connect at Jayapura (come on!) into the jungles of Irian Jaya and to Papua New Guinea. ;)  :ph34r: 

After that, I will be the president of an anti-aircraft-noise commission and strangely, my aircraft will all be categorized as "rather quiet" or "quiet enough" to serve Frankfurt with a shattering and screaming night landing at 3 am and thundering departure at 4 am. :blush:  :P 

9

I suggested previously that it should be possible to expand an airport by building an additional runway. It would be prohibitively expensive and a single player has to pay for it, but the slots would be available for everybody.

There’s a very long thread about this idea somewhere with too many arguments why it’s not a good idea.

10

If you need slots, you can buy one company with slots over the stock exchange ;-)