Part 21: - Look to the East
1962 - Look to the East
Q1 1962
Hush.
Always.
More hub-time is always a good thing.
Moscow, Tehran, Singapore, and Mexico all sprout more of it.
All’s quiet. All’s well.
Q2 1962
They’ll show more signs of life once they start swapping out old Tu104s for these.
As for us,
I’ve called in an expert.
He has connections.
I could flex-fund another right away.
Or go punch Yang. Let's punch Yang.
The most merciful thing in the air-travel industry, I think, is the inability of the human mind to visit all its destinations. We ride in the placid cabin of ignorance in the midst of a black network of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The airlines, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated locations will open up such terrifying vistas of tourism, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new jet age.
A quick bid to maintain our share of the homeland. It will be a long time before any more time opens up, but even longer before we need it.
More work preheating our hub to be. Slowing down negotiations is one of the big ways that bad relations hurt us, so getting this all nailed down in advance will help keep things smooth when we start deploying here.
THROM status: STRONG.
The end of Cairo’s tourism boom forces a return to sensible prices on flights into Egypt.
Has something at home caught your attention, Yang?
Some stirring on the borders of Air’Murica’s network. They’ve probably saturated their current lines with jets, and want to break new ground. Bids in Mexico and Sydney.
Always a pity when tourists swarm to somewhere off the grid.
Air Marx’s business holdings in Europe add up to three City Hotels and two Shuttle Services. They are quite fond of endorsing them.
That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange eons, aero-death may fly.
Q3 1962
More newly independent states who also love us. An improvement over France in one case, and calmly carrying on vs the UK in the other.
They bid for another slice of Tehran, and buy a lot of jets.
Counter-bids in New York. ConAir continue to make heavy use of the Lockheed Constellation.
I expect they’re saving up to open their eastern connection once that far-off bid clears.
Ph'nglui Mglw'nafh THR’HKG R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
Being a thriving double-hub can make it tough to get a word in edgewise with New York. People with better connections got a bigger share of the pie. they’re nearly full now, so I’ll hold off on another attempt until the next time they grow.
No such trouble in Washington. Plenty of cities have been overlooked by our competitors, leaving fair space for us to build a presence in the region.
Likewise in Oceania. Though it’s slow-going to get out hands on it, most the region’s time is up for grabs. These two will make fine additions to our network once we get down there.
A full year fending off gators in the swamps of Florida is still worth it for 5 slots in a city tied for second-best tourism rating in the world. It’s only beaten by Honolulu.
To reiterate - Yes. That’s us beating ConAir in their own home region, and Air’Murica’s revenues in decline.
Q4 1962
First route ever in South America, seven years into the game.
They get in on the Greek game and bid a bit in China.
Asleep at the switch again.
Our connecting flights are really good at stomping all over the competition.
While our trap-routes continue to do their jobs, network growth is slowly creating enough demand to overflow into competing flights. Ultimately it’s a good sign, as it means many potential routes to upgrade to Doug, or stuff with IL14s freed by upgrades elsewhere.
Always nice when it’s not happening to us.
Exactly what we’ll need to cross the atlantic.
Another 22 pop up in Sydney, as well as 12 in New York.
1962 Year-End Review
They waste no time pouncing on New York’s new capacity. If we join the struggle we may sneak off with a few more of our own.
All the better to add to our fledgling US portfolio. Time in Chicago is rapidly piling up, awaiting our arrival from overseas. The makings of a fine future hub.
More importantly, fresh Doug put us firmly back in upward motion. We woke the sleeping giant that is our eastern connector, opened our first new route since running down our cash reserve, and with those moves claimed the #1 position in a second region. We broke records with our best quarter making $15.7M, and brought in a total of $59,650K to spread around next year’s budget.
Budget Carryover:
pre:
Routes Planes Biz Flex Bank
------ ------ ------ ------ ------
0 55 9,787 7,223 18,067