Tutorial/1.5/Expert Knowledge/Interlining

From AirlineSimPedia

Introduction

Interlining refers to agreements between airlines regarding passenger transfers; specifically, the ability for passengers to transfer between flights operated by airlines which have interlining agreements. This is a pretty complicated business in reality, but a simplified model is used in AirlineSim.

Procedure

In order for passenger transfers between flights operated by two different airlines to occur (see: ORS), an Interlining contract must have been signed. These contracts currently encompass the entirety of the networks of the airlines concerned - there are no restrictions regarding particular airports or routes.

To set up an interlining agreement, you may use the Interlining page, accessible from the Enterprise menu, or the Request Interlining button, accessible on the information page of all airlines. Once you've received confirmation of the other airline's acceptance, the two route networks will be linked immediately, and passengers and freight can transfer between the flights of the partners involved. The same transfer rules apply as would to transfers between your own flights - no less time than the airport minimum transfer time, and no more than eight hours - although it is worth bearing in mind that this second value is set on a server-by-server basis, so the time allowed may be longer on any further future servers.

For fairly obvious reasons, there are some costs involved in this process. Interlining contracts require the employment of a number of extra network planning personnel, with a minimum of one employee per airline per contract and, if large airlines are involved, potentially many more; it's therefore worth thinking very hard about the value of any extra traffic generated versus the value of maintaining an interlining contract, particularly with a very large airline.

Interlining agreements, as with other contracts, be cancelled at any time; if cancelled, they will run until the close of the current accounting week of the airline cancelling the contract.

Internal Interlining

Handling connections between your own flights isn't free either; these are handled in the same way as external connections, and so require a number of staff to keep them running smoothly. The option exists to turn them off, and so dispense with the staff - you can do this by unchecking the Internal Network checkbox on the Interlining page - but be aware that this will result in your passengers being unable to switch between two of your flights, potentially resulting in lowered demand, particularly on marginal routes.