Needed - 4 individuals to test airline management conce

[Guest]

OK, I have a supply and demand model that I created for a different industry but am now adapting for flight sim. I don't know exactly where I'm going with this but I think it represents the most important and so far overlooked aspect of an airline management addon for FS so I thought I would play with it a bit. I need four individuals to give this a test. I would prefer serious simmers - particularly those with some VA experience and maybe a little business background. If you are interested, please reply and I will forward a "marketing report" for the proposed route (KCOS - KASE). You will submit some information and in return I will tell you how many passengers you will have and how much revenue you will generate. There are other addons that can tell you your expenses (I might add that in eventually). At this point I just want to model supply and demand with four competitors and one route. Please let me know if you have more questions. Thanks!David

[Guest Liam]

Hi David,Looks very interesting. However I can not do anything today as it is my Bday and the other half will not be impressed if I spend anymore time at this computer :-)If you could email myslef with some more information would be more than happy to take part, or help in anyway.liam.fassam@ntlworld.comLook forward to hearing from you Liam

[Guest]

Liam,Happy Birthday! I don't think it really matters when you actually do the flight. I've attached a document (to a separate e-mail) that might help guide you with deciding when to "offer" the flight and set fares, etc. As you can probably tell, you have the option of going for the price sensitive ("cheap!") college student market, which might allow you to use a cheaper turboprop, or slug it out with competitors for the more lucrative high-end crowd (of course they might go for the students too!). Set your fares based on your expenses (which you may or may not know - but a corporate jet is usually anywhere between $1K - $2K per hour and a turboprop might be a bit less). The actual demand, though, will also be determined by what your competitors do. So you can gouge the passengers but someone might be gunning to start the next Southwest Airlines, in which case you will be in trouble. The only thing you can't do is communicate with your competitors to fix prices - it's illegal! If you are still interested, please return the info requested on the document. Thanks again and have a great B-day!David

[brucek 38]

Hi David,I'm a business analyst, and would love to take a look at your product.My e-mail is brucek@qwest.netThanks- I have a long weekend coming up with some time available.Bruce.KBJC, Jeffco, CO

[Guest]

Bruce,Thanks for your reply on Avsim regarding my airline management sim idea. Since you have a business background, I'll give you some insight into what I am working on. Basically, the one element that has always been missing for me in FS has been some kind of economic incentive - even a simulated one! Virtual Airlines continue to be popular but even the best of them don't simulate the competitive nature of the industry. Personally, I've found VAs are too big on bureaucracy and low on fun.Some products provide real world flight schedules we can use (Ultimate Airlines) and that was pretty cool. FSMaintenance does a good job with the maintenance component and I guess it does have some revenue modeled but it's not very sophisticated. What I propose is a system that would allow a group of simmers to compete over time using a small set of routes. The model can be dynamic, meaning if one individual decides to undercut the competition on fares and has the competitive advantage to do so (efficient plane, cheap financing, economies of scale), they will dominate. On the other hand, one participant might elect to go for the high-end market and fly small numbers of businessmen in their GIV and still make a killing. Fuel prices can fluctuate from week to week, as can interest rates, etc. If a route is doing very well, new people might sign up for it, dragging down the profits for everyone. Likewise, the demographics can change too. Perhaps Spring Break is coming up and students will be looking for cheap airfares. I don't yet have a grand plan for an interface that could handle this kind of transaction. I assume something web based would be possible, and rather than run it like a virtual airline, I would promote it more as a simulated marketplace, perhaps one that could weave VAs together in a meaningful way.Here's the concept I have so far, and please feel free to jump in and make any recommendations. - Participants make decisions on 3 different factors: Time of departure Type of plane - which determines Comfort, Capacity, and Duration of flight Fare (presumably they will price their fares relative to expected costs, but also competitors' fares, and value)- The market would have two segments - business travelers and tourists/students to start with- business travelers are sensitive to time of departure, comfort, and duration of flight- tourist/students are sensitive to fares first and foremost- If a participant selects a departure time that differs from the ideal (for example, businessmen would prefer a 6pm return flight over an 8am flight) and from those of his competitors (for example, they all offer flights within an hour or two of 6pm), then he/she will lose marketshare and hence, revenue. On the other hand, if they maintain that 8am flight but offer cheap fares and fill their B747, then they might have a good strategy too! If two flights depart at 6pm but one is a GIV and the other is a Dash8 and the fare is the same (yeah right!), then the GIV will definitely be full before the Dash 8, but perhaps their are enough business travelers to fill both.Are you starting to get the idea? There are lots of other things that can be added - advertising costs for one, but I think it's important to keep it small and viable than make it so complex that no one would "play" it. Weekly reports highlighting each airline's marketshare and other data could be generated, as well as "news" regarding changes in fuel prices and new routes. I developed a more intricate model to teach veterinarians how to make better business decisions but I use so many examples from the airline industry (yield management, frequent flier plans, etc) in my own consulting that this isn't too much of a stretch. If you have any suggestions or would like to contribute to this in any way, I'd love the help!David