TPC Charters VA adopts FBO hub and spoke routing
We are excited to announce that TPC Charters VA has made a change to the FBO routing system. We are now using the hub-and-spoke model traditionally used by the airlines. This optional system will better serve both the Company and its Pilots.
Due to this change, seven of the FBOs have been changed to hubs for the VA: Seattle (KSEA), Los Angeles (KLAX), Denver (KDEN), Chicago (KORD), Dallas-Ft. Worth (KDFW), Atlanta (KATL), and Boston (KBOS).
The routes between the airliner hubs will be built for medium range airliners (A321, B739, and B757). The other routes will be the spokes to the regional airliner FBOs. These routes are built for the size of the airliner that should be used based on the distance to the regional FBO. Routes under 500nm are built for traditional regional aircraft (CRJs, Embraers, B736, B717, A319, etc.). Routes between 500-1000nm are built for short range airliners (A320, B737, B738).
The remaining airliner FBOs have been changed to regional FBOs. The regional FBOs will only have airliner routes back to the hub(s) that they are associated to. These routes will be built to match the size of the route from the hub to the regional FBO. The rest of the routes for the regional FBOs will be used for executive (business) jets and possibly general aviation (GA) aircraft, if there is an executive FBO close enough.
In this model, executive jets will have much more freedom in the routes that are available as would be the case in the real world. There are routes between both regional and executive airports for the executive jets to use. Honolulu, Hawaii has also been connected to the FBO system on a provisional basis for the medium range airliners. Flights on these routes will likely need both passengers and cargo loaded for them to be profitable. If we see that these flights are not making a profit, the routes will be shutdown.
The hub-and-spoke model has only been applied to the North American FBOs. The European and Australian FBO routes have remained the same since the number of FBOs there does not make a hub-and-spoke model feasible. The abbreviations used for the beginning of the FBO name has been changed. This will cause the FBOs to sort in a different order than you are used to.
The hub FBOs now have the abbreviation AHUB (Americas Hub). The regional FBOs in North America have the abbreviation AReg (Americas Regional). The European FBOs are using the abbreviation EReg (European Regional). The Australian FBOs are using the abbreviation AuReg (Australian Regional). The FBOs that used to be listed as Regional are now listed as Executive (Exec).
If you have been authorized for airliners and you would like a different airliner for the routes you would like to fly, please put a request in charters-requests channel on TPC Discord. If you have any questions or comments, please let us know in charters-chat channel on TPC Discord.
