I’m seeing lots of people suggesting to use African, Avia or Helvetic, but these conversations usually centre around maximum airframe utilisation.
In my case, time on the ground is pretty good (owing to my waves), I’m not struggling at all for maintenance windows and, currently, using Servizio Da Luigi, things seem to be okay.
The question I have is this. For a scenario like mine, most a/c have a ratio exceeding 200% with Luigi, but would I be better switching to another provider?
Specifically, I understand the price and quality elements of the maintenance providers table. Efficiency is my sticking point. Does efficiency simply reflect the time taken, or does it also imply cost?
In other words, is maintenance paid by the hour? If I choose a low efficiency provider that is cheap, will I end up paying more because they take so long to do the same work? Or is the cost fixed, and efficiency only relates to time taken to actually complete a repair?
Could @martin provide any guidance on the price structure for maintenance behind the scenes (specifically, does low cost, low efficiency end up equating to high cost due to the hours of maintenance required)? In other words, is maintenance paid by the hour, or is it a set fee and the low efficiency simply affects the MR?
Happy to share my two cents. However, it is simply my understanding and may not be entirely accurate.
Firstly, maximising A/C utilisation is very important in AS, anything over 150% is a waste imo. This is of course if you are looking to “min/max” the game and grow quickly. If this isn’t your playstyle, then all good.
So then, what is the best provider for your model? Well since you have both plenty of time to perform the maintenance, and you aren’t pushing your aircraft to the 100% utilisation limit. Both Quality and Efficiency should be of less importance than Price. Therefore rule any out that dont have at least “Good” rating for price.
Efficiency is how quickly the condition is improved during maintenance periods, Quality is how quickly that condition declines during flights following maintenance. Price is the cost per/min (I think?) as maintenance is performed. From my calc, this can be around $0.35-$0.60 per min for B737-800 and every aircraft will be different.
So in your situation, Price is most important. Therefore as the cheapest Servizio Da Luigi is a good bet. Quality (so your aircrafts condition stays higher for longer, therefore better condition rating on more flights and therefore better image) is 2nd most important. So switching to Maintenance Aéronautique Solaire might be worth a go too.