One option I could see as a longer term challenge for players is to develope a pyramid type VA scheme. There are 2 ways to compare this type of structure:
- You have a VA acting as a vehicle for other airlines to wear your brand and get your capital/support. This would result in a fixed price scheme similar to what we currently see. You could compare this to a royalty payment to the VA for supporting operations.
- You are a sub contractor to the overarching VA. This allows prices to be set by the VA on a dynamic scale. This gives the VA flexibility to change what airline pays what, what types of jobs pay, and so on.
Both of these are scalable options and could be coupled with benefits either way.
How I see this working:
A VA is born. This VA is REQUIRED to purchase a hub for operations. They need to have infrastructure there, such as maintenance, cargo holding, aircraft hangars, parking spots rented from the facility, and optional expenses to include upgraded FBO's to achieve higher prestige, and ratings from customers.
BRyan Air owns the hub at KDEN. They have all essential facilities to begin the work of bringing in external pilots. Pilots that now become part of this, can either be branded with BRYAN, or their own airlines...Based on the structure from above, franchise style or subcontractor style.
BRYAN Air has capital, resources and marketing power because they are a VA. However, all of that is worthless without people to deliver their goods, and gain customers. An airline decides they want to be part of this. A new airline wants to be part of what BRyan can give them instead of grinding it out on their own, competing with VA's is difficult. BRyan is required to purchase a route from KDEN to KSDF where the new airline is based.
Since a VA is scalable, it is easier to absorb the cost influx of new routes, and supporting new clieents. Owning routes costs money, and you HAVE to own a facility at both ends of your routes if you are a VA. BRyan can determine the most profitable way to make that route support the overall company and help support bringing in new pilots and new clients.
This should also produce a non-stop flow of goods back and forth from hub to satellite facilities.
Influences on job pay:
- Facility levels, ammenities
- Consumer Ratings, continually fluxuating based on your pilots performance for on time flights, being priced competitively, and being environmentally friendly by flying aircraft in a fuel efficient way and flying a fuel effiecient aircraft opposed to older, worn aircraft.
- Economic circumstances: I think that if you have many items, a VA should be able to choose their product but in an open, persistent world, the more VA's that are supplying that item should drive down the benefit to supplying those goods. This forms a challenge to changing your tactics, revamping facilities to store different goods that require climate control ect.
- Marketing: A VA should be able to promote itself within the economy, and this would increase demand for their services. The more you pay in advertising or marketing, the more your VA could profit in the future.
Some of the biggest challenges here, is the fact that a VA cannot exist invisibly. It must have assets, property, buildings and it will have significant overhead. VA's will need to scale operations carefully as it will be forgiving at first but as a company grows, so does risk and liability.