Route economics
Which aircraft fits this route?
The route's demand stays the same; the aircraft changes capacity, frequency and cost. A smaller aircraft either spills passengers or needs more departures; a larger one flies emptier. Enter your own figures for each type, and change the demand to see where the answer flips.
The aircraft are real, but the figures are typical estimates, not official data and not any airline's own. The route, demand and fares are illustrative. Replace every figure with your own. Nothing you type is stored.
Best result within range: Embraer E175, today's frequency with a profit of $242,503 (+$35,577 against Airbus A320 at today's frequency). Dispatch reliability is shown for your judgement; it is not included in the profit figure.
| Aircraft | Plan | Departures | Seats offered | Carried | Spilled | Load factor | Fuel | Maintenance | Other | Total cost | Profit | vs baseline | Cost / seat-km | Fuel kg / 100 seat-km | Reliability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A320 | Today's frequency (adjusting frequency changes nothing here) | 60 | 9,720 | 2,800 | 0 | 28.8% | $134,211 | $50,968 | $139,895 | $325,074 | ▲ $206,926 | baseline | 4.18¢ | 2.03 | – |
| Embraer E175 | Today's frequency (adjusting frequency changes nothing here) | 60 | 4,560 | 2,800 | 0 | 61.4% | $107,052 | $78,997 | $103,448 | $289,497 | ▲ $242,503 | +$35,577 | 7.94¢ | 3.45 | – |
Weigh the other factors
Money is only part of choosing an aircraft. Score each type from 0 to 10 (10 is best) on the factors below, then set how much each one counts. Profit is scored automatically from the result above: 0 for the worst option in range, 10 for the best. Your scores are your judgement, not a calculation.
| Profit (from result) | Dispatch reliability | Fleet commonality | Shared tools | Shared spare parts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight (0 = ignore) | |||||
| Airbus A320 | automatic | ||||
| Embraer E175 | automatic |
Ranked on profit alone. Give every aircraft type a score for a factor, and a weight above 0, to bring it in.
| Rank | Aircraft | Plan | Profit | Profit score | Combined (0–10) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Embraer E175 | Today's frequency | $242,503 | 10.0 | 10.00 |
| 2 | Airbus A320 | Today's frequency | $206,926 | 0.0 | 0.00 |
Combined score = the sum of (weight × score) divided by the sum of the weights, over the factors counted above. A factor is only counted when every aircraft type has a score for it, so a missing score never counts as zero. Profit is scored by position between the worst and best option in range, so two close results can look far apart; read the profit column beside it. Change a weight and watch the ranking move.
How this was calculated
- Demand (2,800 passengers) is held fixed. Each type is shown two ways.
- Today's frequency: 60 departures. Passengers carried = the smaller of demand and seats offered x 85% planning load factor; the rest is spilled.
- Frequency adjusted: departures = demand ÷ (seats x 85%) rounded up, but never below 60. All demand is carried.
- Block hours = departures x stage length (800 km) ÷ the type's block speed.
- Fuel = block hours x fuel burn x $0.85/kg. Maintenance and other cost = block hours x the figure you entered.
- Revenue = passengers carried x $190 per passenger. Profit = revenue − total cost. Cost per seat-km = total cost ÷ (seats offered x stage length).
- Not modelled: demand changing with frequency or aircraft size, network feed, airport fees by weight, and crew rules. Treat the result as a comparison of the figures you entered, not a forecast.
Where the sample figures come from
- Seats: Embraer E175, 76 seats in the standard dual-class layout (Embraer data sheet). Airbus A320, 162 seats, a common two-class layout; airlines use anything from about 150 to 186.
- Fuel burn: A320 about 2,500 kg per hour (ceo; the neo burns roughly 15–20% less). E175 about 3,690 lb per hour as a block-to-block average, which is about 1,674 kg per hour. These are commonly quoted figures from pilot and aviation Q&A sources, not manufacturer data.
- Block speed, maintenance, crew, ownership, fees: estimated typical ranges; the sample uses the midpoint of each. These are estimates, not reported figures.
| Per block hour | Airbus A320 | Embraer E175 |
|---|---|---|
| Block speed (km/h) | 740–780 | 610–665 |
| Maintenance | $600–1,014 | $800–1,300 |
| Crew | $650–964 | $400–600 |
| Ownership | $450–1,165 | $350–700 |
| Landing and handling fees | $400–800 | $200–500 |
| Used as “other cost” | $2,215 | $1,375 |
Fuel price ($0.85 per kg) is illustrative. For figures reported by US airlines by aircraft type, see the US DOT Form 41 Schedule P-5.2 on the BTS Transtats site, and use your own fleet's numbers where you have them.