Airline Club

Starlight here.

I thought I'd write some general principles of organization for the alliance:

1. Connect to each others' hubs.

We want synergy from connecting routes within the alliance. That means if you're building routes from one of your hubs into a new region, see if there are alliance hubs in the area and head towards those. You're likely to get some spillover demand from the ally, and they from you.

For some examples where this is particularly relevant: the southern and southwestern US have many cities with high income and moderate population. It would take too many routes and bases to give them all directs everywhere. So we operate on a hub-and-spokes model with a focus on Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL). It would've been a valid choice to use different bases, like Phoenix, Charlotte, or Miami, but we happen not to be structured that way, and at this point we've invested dozens of routes and billions of dollars in our choices.

So if you're connecting from your home country to the southern US, you might find more demand for continuing passengers if you go through those airports first. For another example, there are plenty of good airports in southern Japan with direct demand, but the most likely place to get connecting passengers is Kansai International (KIX) because we have invested the most in that.

2. Don't direct-compete with each others' routes.

While you want to connect your hub to other allies' hubs, you should check to make sure it isn't already done. We don't ever need to spend more than one route on a particular route. It's a big world out there with lots of better opportunities for expansion. Piling too many people into the same route grinds down profit margin.

3. Expand in relatively-contiguous blocs.

It's easier for allies to work with you and build a strategy around you if your strategy is obvious. Don't build a new, far-flung base in a country you don't have a good shot at earning a reputation bonus in. Leave those to allies and just build flights out to them. Instead focus on your areas of advantage and build a cohesive network that's attractive for other allies to build links to.

4. Some countries have room for more than one of us.

While direct competition isn't fun, there are some countries valuable enough to have more than one ally in. Definitely discuss it here and coordinate, but don't shy entirely away from the large markets where even a 4th or 5th place trophy is valuable.

I'm writing this especially with respect to the US, which is just so huge and so fragmented that it's very difficult for me to cover it all, even though I have more North American volume than anyone in the game. Remember that if you HQ over one of my bases, you'll still be able to join the alliance.

But even a not-quite-as-big market--like Italy--can yield us benefits by having two alliance members earn reputation from it.

5. Expand to new territories.

There's a lot we haven't covered yet, and those areas are the ones where a new ally could probably do the most good. Here I'm especially thinking of Mexico, central/eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Russia, but also really any country that seems under-covered.

6. Talk it out here.

Talk through expansion plans here. Sometimes people have bases they're not particularly attached to and are willing to turn over the territory to someone else. Other times there's a place they really want to go to. Just let people know your plans and it'll keep our alliance organized. If it seems like an airline has been away for a long time, and someone really wants one of their bases, we'll try to address that. But it's early in the alliance feature and I don't see us having a problem with that any time soon.