Pricing of out of production aircraft

You are missing something, or have a cool idea for us ? Tell us here !

Moderator: FSAirlines Staff

Post Reply
User avatar
joefremont
FSAirlines Developer
Posts: 3694
Joined: Tue May 16, 2006 5:46 am
Location: KSFO

Pricing of out of production aircraft

Post by joefremont » Thu Nov 04, 2021 7:30 pm

I have been thinking about and working on some ideas on how to price older aircraft and trying to come up with some consistent rules. We usually try to use real world prices, but that is hard to use as often with old aircraft the ones that are on the market have only a few cycles left on the airframe and priced very close to scrap value and even if the airframe is in good shape because of sound or other safety regulations may not be useable as commercial aircraft, while aircraft in FSA have unlimited time on there airframe and there are sound/safety restrictions on there use. Currently all aircraft in the system have a minimum price, this is based on the size of the aircraft (DOW) and the engine type. The idea I have is based on the number of aircraft still in service in the real world.

If 10% or fewer of the aircraft built are still in service then the price in the system will be the minimum price.
of 10-50% of the aircraft are still in service then the price will be 150% of the minimum
or if more than 50% are still in service then it will be 200% of the minimum.

Some unique and special aircraft like the AN-124 and concorde would not be subject to these rules and of all course special use aircraft would not be included either.

We can look at a site like planespotters.net where they have a list of common aircraft in service and we can look at the number of aircraft that are 'active' or 'parked'.

Using these rules I was looking at some of the 737 models. It looks like very few of the original (-100/-200) are still in service so they would be at the minimum, about 20% of the 'classic' (-300 to -500) so they would be 150% of minimum and more than 80% of the NG versions are still active so they would be 200% of the minimum.

I have been playing around with some code to change it so I have repriced many aircraft using these rules but will change them back if there is much outcry.
Image
I've sworn an oath of solitude until the pestilence is purged from the lands.

User avatar
Cat
Chief Pilot
Posts: 818
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2016 5:56 am

Re: Pricing of out of production aircraft

Post by Cat » Thu Nov 04, 2021 8:05 pm

I personally think the price of a CRJ2 at 18 million + on the Trader List is pretty much a deal breaker when the comparable ERJ145s sell for 9 million +.

Both are 50 seat regional jets in the process of phase out in the real world. CRJ2's are being acquired in bunches for a fraction of their original cost and given new life as luxury business jets. An operator can get a handful of CRJ2's fully refurbished as biz jets with luxury interiors and upgraded engines and avionics for a fraction of the cost of ONE new high end Gulftream. In FSA, neither plane makes much, there isn't a lot of ticket factor help and the cargo capacity is pretty much non existent (as in the real ones). So why would I as an operator want an $18 million dollar CRJ2 that will take almost 200 typcial flight cycles to pay off when I can get a Boeing 737-300 for less than $10 million and pay it off in about 8 or 9 flights? (payoff estimates based on standard 25x multiplier and not on the totally unrealistic dynamic multipliers that start at 1000x).

Having gone "off topic" here, sorry about that.... the intent of this post was to ask if actual pricing can be implemented on the order form in the out of production list. Most of the time we have to look at the aiplane value on the database and make a best guess as to what they may go for on the out of production list. I guess if we don't like the price, we don't have to buy it when it becomes availabe and the price is then shown.

I for one, am not a fan of any price increases on the classic airplanes - the sales tax thing on new ones was bad enough.
Image

User avatar
joefremont
FSAirlines Developer
Posts: 3694
Joined: Tue May 16, 2006 5:46 am
Location: KSFO

Re: Pricing of out of production aircraft

Post by joefremont » Thu Nov 04, 2021 11:50 pm

I agree the CRJ-2 is very overpriced and discrepancies like that are part of my motivation for doing this. It is true that by doing this a few classic aircraft have gone up a little, but far more have dropped in price, often by a lot, it's all about making things consistent.

I agree the price for out of production aircraft should be on that ordering page somewhere, should not be hard to add it to the drop down after the name.
Image
I've sworn an oath of solitude until the pestilence is purged from the lands.

User avatar
Cat
Chief Pilot
Posts: 818
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2016 5:56 am

Re: Pricing of out of production aircraft

Post by Cat » Fri Nov 05, 2021 2:49 pm

8)
Image

User avatar
joefremont
FSAirlines Developer
Posts: 3694
Joined: Tue May 16, 2006 5:46 am
Location: KSFO

Re: Pricing of out of production aircraft

Post by joefremont » Fri Nov 05, 2021 3:51 pm

I have added the price to the dropdown in the 'order aircraft' screen. And most of the aircraft have been repriced, including the CRJ-s and ERJ's.
Image
I've sworn an oath of solitude until the pestilence is purged from the lands.

User avatar
Cat
Chief Pilot
Posts: 818
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2016 5:56 am

Re: Pricing of out of production aircraft

Post by Cat » Fri Nov 05, 2021 8:20 pm

Thanks! Looks great and sure takes the guesswork out of ordering an aircraft off the out of production list. Thanks again, something we don't say enough to you!
Image

Post Reply