Currently, Airport CEO’s stand category system is quite unrealistic. Having q400’s at the same gates as a320’s and 757’s is very unrealistic. I propose that airport CEO use a system more similar to ICAO’S system where aircraft are categorized into 6 groups. A,B,C,D,E,F. (The names of the categories can vary I just chose ABCDEF because ICAO uses them.)
E.G
A: Cessna 182
B: Q400
C: a320, 737
D: 757, 767
E: 777, 787
F: a380’S AND 747’S
I would see the benefit that you might think twice which contracts with airlines to accept when having to make such choices. Building your airport could in that case have a more direct impact on making contracts as the airlines use different plane types. If the airlines would come with extra flavor like expensive PAX like business class or different parking fees this would be a very good point to consider. And for simulationists, everything, that is more like the real deal is good.
I would support this idea - at least morally (I am out of votes…)
I understand the current system is not realistic, but I don’t think it is going to be changed. ACEO is a tycoon game with realistic elements, so this would likely make the game more complex, which the devs don’t want. The average player would probably be confused why there are 6 stand types, why he/she can’t schedule flights etc. Having only three weight categories is simplier for casual players.
Maybe a “realistic stand sizes” option would solve this, but I’m not sure if the devs would want to bother with that.
May some airports don’t do this but others do. 
Only the usage of jetways might be unrealistic for some planes like ATR.
But this game should not get too complicated. New players who do not know anything about airports need to be able to understand this game.
I wonder why we cannot have both? If you could toggle this point in the menu before starting the game you add a second level of difficulty to it for players mastering the basics. You would enhance the replayability and add another challenge. The 'new" stands would only appear in ‘expert’ mode and there you might have the choices to take. I think it is a bad trend nowadays to sacrifice game depth for accessing broader numbers of players - an Indian saying goes somewhat like this “He who hunts two rabbits will miss one and let the other escape”. We might have to consider whether we have a good game that stops being attractive after playing it through how many times? Once? Twice? Or do we might want a game that will - by adding some sprinkles of realism in an “advanced mode” evolve together with the player. He, who has mastered the ropes might understand the challenge offered by the requested feature and how this changes the way of playing the game and explore it from another, fresh approach.
I consider Sid Meyer’s Civ 6 well done in that regard. Each DLC and expansion alters the way of playing the game in a subtle way while leaving the basic game mechanisms intact but adding new features that make it possible to play the game in a completely different way. We should regard feature requests like this as honest and to be taken seriously. It is true that they might appeal to only a small number in the current playerbase - we even do not know about the future playerbase - but what if some of those have made their first playthroughs, maybe have read about the topic airports and realize themselves the differences to the real deal - would you rather deny the game evolving with the player for the sake of possible new players in need to learn the basics first?
I would collect these advanced ideas and really think about having an “expert mode” in the game for realism enthusiasts. Another game well done is the Silent Hunter series in that regard. Basically, you hunt ships while commanding a submarine but you can toggle many things like everything between homing torpedos to manually calculating the correct launch angle in real-time. This game can be very challenging and rewarding in that regard with every playthrough. All I ask is: can ACEO do the same?
A Realistic/Expert mode would definitely make both casual and “advanced” players happy. However, it might be a bit too late for that. Alpha 36 is likely the last major content update, and soon the game will advance into the Beta phase. Since the devs didn’t think about this when they were designing the game, implementing realistic features might even be impossible.
Something like this requires planning from the start in my opinion, so maybe the devs will consider this if they ever decide to make ACEO 2.
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