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About Airline Empires:

irline Empires is a new web-based business simulation of the airline industry. The first demand algorithm was derived over four years ago, and since then, the program has changed and adapted to the new aviation industry. The simulation is unique in the way this demand algorithm is employed. Unlike other airline simulations, demand in Airline Empires is dependent upon many different factors, including city size, flight frequency, connecting passengers, and the amount of competition found on the route. The effect competition has on a routes demand is the most revolutionary feature of Ae. Just as the U.S. airline industry is suffering from today, overcapacity in Airline Empires will result in a drop in yields, requiring the simulation's players to carefully research which routes to develop, and which routes to drop. Routes which were once profitable may quickly become unprofitable, not by a decision made by the player, but by decisions made by other players. Because of this, the players of the Airline Empires simulation must be able to react to the actions of other players.

here is no artificial intelligence within Airline Empires. All intelligence within the simulation comes from live players making human decisions, resulting in an online economy. Used aircraft can be bought or sold, gates can be transferred, and fare wars can be waged all generated by live players susceptible to unprogramable artificial intelligence traits such as arrogance, fear, and greed. The absence of artificial intelligence has been integral in creating a simulation true to the economic realities of the airline industry. Players will learn from their mistakes and capitalize off of others. New airlines will rise and fall not based solely on how well the player manages the simulation, but how well he can adapt in relation to the other players. This is the greatest asset to Airline Empires in that with minimal to no programming changes, the simulation will continue to change dependent upon the players in it.

uture development of Airline Empires will continue to offer new and increasingly realistic features.

Several features are planned for future versions of Ae including:

Leasing and Other Financial Agreements
Whether to acquire aircraft through operating leases, capital leases, or financing is an integral part of an airline's profitability. The negotiating process by which each of these financial agreements is met is critical to achieving the level of realism we are striving for in Airline Empires. New aircraft will be able to be purchased from the manufacturer, but all financing or leasing agreements must be negotiated with another player. Used aircraft will be handled much the same way, except there will be no aircraft broker. All transactions of used aircraft will take place between two human players within the game. This method of handling financial agreements will add further dimensions to the Airline Empires virtual economy.

More Accurate Expense Calculations
With the implementation of the new aircraft database, we will be able to provide more accurate expense calculations. Instead of assigning an hourly expense to each aircraft, expenses will be calculated based on several factors including, fuel price, stage length, labor costs, and engine selection.

Labor Relations
A major task in running an airline is managing the labor groups. Depending on decisions players make regarding their employees' pay, labor groups may unionize, demand higher pay, or even go on strike. The amount of pay a labor group demands will be dependent upon the profitability of the company, past labor relations, and comparable pay at other airlines. Once again the decisions of other players will have a large impact upon the decisions each player makes while dealing with their labor groups.

Stock Market
The financial actions associated with the markets are significant whether an airline is successful in the industry. Airline Empires will soon simulate the financial markets allowing players to issue and buy back company stock, buy and sell other airline's stock, declare bankruptcy, and to acquire, or be acquired by another airline. The tradition of airline mergers is too strong to ignore in a realistic simulation of the airline industry, and development in this area has already begun with Ae.

Alliances and Code Sharing
Global alliances account for millions of dollars of revenues that would otherwise go unrealized. Due to the major impact code sharing and alliances have had on the industry, their effects will be simulated in future versions of Ae. Passengers will be able to connect from one airline to another, with all resulting effects on revenues, load factor, and competition included.
Aircraft Scheduling
While airlines always prefer to have the optimal aircraft on each route, that aircraft is not always available. In the future, players will be required to schedule their aircraft efficiently in order to realize the maximum revenue possible. This is a very complex task, filled with compromise and the inevitible unprofitable route, but is also an enormous factor in the operation of an efficient airline. Research has already begun in this area, and can be previewed here.

urrently, Airline Empires is playing an active role in developing industry research. Several papers have already been written using information learned from Airline Empires, and an example authored by Courtney Miller, the creator of Airline Empires, can be found at the following link:
Distributing Demand Accross a Hub and Spoke Network in a Multiplayer Airline Simulation.
More research is being conducted to better understand the dynamics of airline networks using techniques available through the Airline Empires simulation. Several areas of interest include: correlating passenger connect percentages with overall route profitability, accurate route profitability calculations in a connecting network, and route capacity analysis as a function of overall network profitability. To obtain the information required to conduct the research, it is critical that Airline Empires have as many players as possible to generate a realistic virtual economy. For this reason, Airline Empires is planned to be entirely free as long as server bandwidth can be controlled. We are currently determining the feasibility of deploying Airline Empires as an academic and corporate training device. While Airline Empires has not yet reached the level required for professional training, development continues and will soon be of the quality required to be implemented in this area.

All questions regarding the simulation can be sent to questions@airlineempires.com.





ome ogin ircraft creenshots bout orum		About Airline Empires: irline Empires is a new web-based business simulation of the airline industry. The first demand algorithm was derived over four years ago, and since then, the program has changed and adapted to the new aviation industry. The simulation is unique in the way this demand algorithm is employed. Unlike other airline simulations, demand in Airline Empires is dependent upon many different factors, including city size, flight frequency, connecting passengers, and the amount of competition found on the route. The effect competition has on a routes demand is the most revolutionary feature of Ae. Just as the U.S. airline industry is suffering from today, overcapacity in Airline Empires will result in a drop in yields, requiring the simulation's players to carefully research which routes to develop, and which routes to drop. Routes which were once profitable may quickly become unprofitable, not by a decision made by the player, but by decisions made by other players. Because of this, the players of the Airline Empires simulation must be able to react to the actions of other players. here is no artificial intelligence within Airline Empires. All intelligence within the simulation comes from live players making human decisions, resulting in an online economy. Used aircraft can be bought or sold, gates can be transferred, and fare wars can be waged all generated by live players susceptible to unprogramable artificial intelligence traits such as arrogance, fear, and greed. The absence of artificial intelligence has been integral in creating a simulation true to the economic realities of the airline industry. Players will learn from their mistakes and capitalize off of others. New airlines will rise and fall not based solely on how well the player manages the simulation, but how well he can adapt in relation to the other players. This is the greatest asset to Airline Empires in that with minimal to no programming changes, the simulation will continue to change dependent upon the players in it. uture development of Airline Empires will continue to offer new and increasingly realistic features. Several features are planned for future versions of Ae including: Leasing and Other Financial Agreements Whether to acquire aircraft through operating leases, capital leases, or financing is an integral part of an airline's profitability. The negotiating process by which each of these financial agreements is met is critical to achieving the level of realism we are striving for in Airline Empires. New aircraft will be able to be purchased from the manufacturer, but all financing or leasing agreements must be negotiated with another player. Used aircraft will be handled much the same way, except there will be no aircraft broker. All transactions of used aircraft will take place between two human players within the game. This method of handling financial agreements will add further dimensions to the Airline Empires virtual economy. More Accurate Expense Calculations With the implementation of the new aircraft database, we will be able to provide more accurate expense calculations. Instead of assigning an hourly expense to each aircraft, expenses will be calculated based on several factors including, fuel price, stage length, labor costs, and engine selection. Labor Relations A major task in running an airline is managing the labor groups. Depending on decisions players make regarding their employees' pay, labor groups may unionize, demand higher pay, or even go on strike. The amount of pay a labor group demands will be dependent upon the profitability of the company, past labor relations, and comparable pay at other airlines. Once again the decisions of other players will have a large impact upon the decisions each player makes while dealing with their labor groups. Stock Market The financial actions associated with the markets are significant whether an airline is successful in the industry. Airline Empires will soon simulate the financial markets allowing players to issue and buy back company stock, buy and sell other airline's stock, declare bankruptcy, and to acquire, or be acquired by another airline. The tradition of airline mergers is too strong to ignore in a realistic simulation of the airline industry, and development in this area has already begun with Ae. Alliances and Code Sharing Global alliances account for millions of dollars of revenues that would otherwise go unrealized. Due to the major impact code sharing and alliances have had on the industry, their effects will be simulated in future versions of Ae. Passengers will be able to connect from one airline to another, with all resulting effects on revenues, load factor, and competition included. Aircraft Scheduling While airlines always prefer to have the optimal aircraft on each route, that aircraft is not always available. In the future, players will be required to schedule their aircraft efficiently in order to realize the maximum revenue possible. This is a very complex task, filled with compromise and the inevitible unprofitable route, but is also an enormous factor in the operation of an efficient airline. Research has already begun in this area, and can be previewed here. urrently, Airline Empires is playing an active role in developing industry research. Several papers have already been written using information learned from Airline Empires, and an example authored by Courtney Miller, the creator of Airline Empires, can be found at the following link: Distributing Demand Accross a Hub and Spoke Network in a Multiplayer Airline Simulation. More research is being conducted to better understand the dynamics of airline networks using techniques available through the Airline Empires simulation. Several areas of interest include: correlating passenger connect percentages with overall route profitability, accurate route profitability calculations in a connecting network, and route capacity analysis as a function of overall network profitability. To obtain the information required to conduct the research, it is critical that Airline Empires have as many players as possible to generate a realistic virtual economy. For this reason, Airline Empires is planned to be entirely free as long as server bandwidth can be controlled. We are currently determining the feasibility of deploying Airline Empires as an academic and corporate training device. While Airline Empires has not yet reached the level required for professional training, development continues and will soon be of the quality required to be implemented in this area. All questions regarding the simulation can be sent to questions@airlineempires.com.