4. Flight Operations

4.1 Fleet

Group I Equipment Program Table

Group II Equipment Program Table

Group III Equipment Program Table

4.2 Fleet Restrictions

Fleet types flown on flights are restricted by type ratings that you hold/obtain either by initial assignment or by promotion through the promotions/transfer requirement table listed above. Flights flown in aircraft that you are not type rated for, or do not exist in the structure, will be rejected as per the minimum requirements below. So as to not restrict the searchability of our timetable, you are able to see flights for the entire fleet regardless of your rank and type ratings held. It is up to each pilot to ensure they only fly flights in aircraft that they are rated for to avoid their flight being rejected.

4.3 Flight Breaks/AFK

vAAirlines crew members are permitted to take flight breaks when flying offline. Flight breaks should not exceed 10 minutes on flights less than an hour, 20 minutes on flights less than an hour and a half, 30 minutes on flights less than two and a half hours, and 45 minutes on flights less than four hours. For flights over four hours, a break of 75 minutes is approved. Pausing a flight does not count as a break and may be done for extensive periods of time provided that the crew member is not on any Virtual Air Traffic network. If flying online on a Virtual Air Traffic network, flight breaks are to be conducted in accordance with that network’s policy and should be requested from the controlling agency if applicable.

4.4 Fuel Planning

Pilots are required to calculate fuel for each flight. By utilizing the flight search, bidding, and flight plan creation features through the pilot portal, you will be provided a realistic flightplan through SimBrief integrations that will satisfy the requirement. You may also utilize your own SimBrief (or other flight/fuel) planning directly through their website.

4.5 PIREPs - ACARS

vAAirlines utilizes a version of vmsACARS (nicknamed "JetNet") adapted to work seamlessly with our cms. If we decide to utilize TFDi's smartCARS 3 software in the future it will be referred to as "smartCARS", "SC3", or "smartCARS 3" to while the current ACARS will remain "JetNet". Links to download the clients as well as links to instructions on their operations may be found in the downloads section of the pilot portal. If you have problems with the system, please contact your Chief Pilot with the issue so it can be directed to the proper source and corrected as soon as possible. Unfortunately, direct troubleshooting may be limited due to the nature of both programs being created by third parties, but all efforts will be made to get you an answer or raise the issue directly with the developer. Manual PIREPs are not accepted unless a valid VATSIM or Volanta link is posted in the comments section of the manual PIREP. The manual PIREP option is meant to be used as a backup in case the ACARS program becomes unresponsive during flight. Manual PIREPs will not be accepted without a valid VATSIM or Volanta link and should be used as a secondary emergency option only.

4.6 Flight Frequency/Minimum Requirements

We recognize that crew members have outside obligations in the real world and may also have obligations to fly for other virtual organizations. We require that crew members fly one flight in the first 14 days of employment. After the initial flight requirement has been met, we no longer hold any further flight requirement and only require that pilots log in to the website at least once every 60 days. If the 60-day login requirement is not met, the system will automatically mark you as inactive and lock your account out as well as remove you from the public pilot roster. To be reinstated as active, please contact the VP of Human Resources by email with your name and pilot ID to be reactivated. Pilots inactive for more than 365 days may be removed from the system entirely unless on an approved LOA. If you are unable to meet the flight frequency requirements as outlined in this document, please contact the VP of Human Resources with your LOA – Leave of Absence request stating the reason for the LOA as well as the timeframe for return to active status. Pilots who have not met the 14-day initial flight requirement are not eligible for LOA. Flights are required to meet the following minimum requirements:

• Land with a landing rate harder than -900 fpm.
• Land outside of the touchdown zone (for non-checkride purposes, defined as more than 3,000 feet past the threshold only).
• Flight must be at 1x sim rate for the entire flight.
• Flight must take off at the scheduled departure airport.
• Flight must land at the scheduled arrival airport.
• Flights must have proper fuel planning.
• Flights must be in approved paint scheme/livery (American Airlines, American Eagle, American Airlines special liveries, AirCal, Reno Air, TWA, US Airways, or other American Eagle Regional Partners colors/liveries only). This does not extend to OneWorld or other joint venture partners. Completely blank liveries may be used if no approved livery exists.
• Flights must be in the aircraft assigned to the flight bid.
• Flights must not be flown for another airline or organization without prior authorization (commonly known as “double PIREPing”). Flights may be simultaneously tracked by programs such as Volanta with with the sole purpose of personal logbook use only.
• Flights must be completed in an aircraft that the pilot has a type rating for (either primary or secondary) per the table in section 4.1 of the SOPPHB.

Failure to meet these minimum requirements may cause your PIREP to be rejected. If a PIREP is rejected, a comment will be made on the PIREP as an explanation and you will be able to see who rejected it. If it is something that can be fixed (manual PIREP without a VATSIM or Volanta link) you will have 7 days to email the person who rejected your PIREP before the system will automatically delete the rejected PIREP. To find the email of the person who rejected your PIREP, note their name and then utilize the "Our Team" page in the pilot portal under Corporate Operations > Headquarters.

4.7 Charter Flights

Occasionally vAAirlines will be hired to do select charter flights for sports teams, relief efforts, troop movement, or other items. When these arise, they will be added to the system and can be found by searching for "Charters" as the flight type in the flight search. A note of the charter flights will be posted in our Discord under "Charter Announcements" along with the duration of the charter flight being available in the system. Charter flights, unless otherwise noted in the announcement, are not type rating/CAT free and must be flown in accordance with section 4.6 of the SOPPHB.

4.8 Online Flying

vAAirlines encourages pilots to utilize our partner online Virtual Air Traffic network, VATSIM, to conduct flights. When flying on the network, please use this format for your flights:

• The three letter ICAO identifier for the correct airline being flown followed by the flight number assigned to the route. For example, AA1/AAL1 from JFK to LAX would be flown on the network as AAL1 and spoken as "American 1". US29/AWE29 from CLT to ATL would be flown as the network as AWE29 and spoken as "Cactus 29".
• Duplicate callsigns caused by two pilots on the same network flying the same route should be resolved by adding the first letter of your first name (or first letter of your last name if the letters are the same and in use already) at the end of your flight number (ie AAL1023T for Tom also flying MIA-DTW in the A319).
• If more than 4 pilots are online and flying the same flight where only one flight number is available, pilots may then use their ID number to differentiate between flights on the network.
• Spoken callsigns on the network should fall in line with their real-world operator:
  AAL - "American"
  ENY - "Envoy"
  JIA - "Bluestreak" (PSA Airlines)
  PDT - "Piedmont"
  RPA - "Brickyard" (Republic Airways)
  SKW - "SkyWest"
  AWI - "Wisconsin" (Air Wisconsin)
  ACL - "AirCal"
  AWE - "Cactus" (US Airways)
  EGF - "Eagle Flight" (American Eagle Historic)
  ROA - "Reno Air"
  TWA - "TWA"

Please also post a link to our main website in the remarks section of your flight plan in the following format “OPR/AALVA.ORG”. This helps controllers identify your flight as well as help promote our airline on the networks.

4.9 Fleet Substitutions

vAAirlines flights are to be completed in the aircraft listed on the schedule and may not be substituted. Fleet substitutions of the same aircraft family but different variant are not allowed regardless of similarity or real world operation (for example, an A319 flight must be flown in an A319 and may not be flown in an A320 or A321. Likewise, a 777-200 flight may not be completed in a 777-300 or 787-8). This also extends to different engine models of the same aircraft family (for example, the A321 may not be flown for an A321neo flight). Aircraft not in the fleet will not be accepted. The exception to this is only with written approval from the Senior Executive Staff on a rare and case-by-case basis.

4.10 Double Flight Tracking (Double PIREPing)

vAAirlines flights may not be flown for another organization including, but not limited to, other virtual airlines, virtual organizations, or training departments without prior written authorization from your Type Rating Group Chief Pilot. The exception to this is that you may always utilize your own flight tracking software for personal use only such as Volanta or similar which would be used to maintain a personal flight logbook but not upload to a website or server which has been created as a type of virtual airline or organization.

4.11 Shared Flight Deck Operations

vAAirlines recognizes that teamwork and proper Crew Resource Management (CRM) is vital to creating a safe and effective flight deck environment as well as overall flight operation. vAAirlines has no limits on utilizing any 3rd party application created to simulate another crew member being on the flight deck with you including utilizing features or programs that allow you to fly with another vAAirlines pilot who is rated to also fly that aircraft while both receiving credit for the flight by using the JetNet ACARS flight tracking software. The exception to this rule regarding both AI as well as an Additional Crew Member (ACM) is when the flight being conducted is for a practical examination/checkride flown for vAAirlines unless otherwise stated in the checkride instruction email.

4.12 Historic Fleet

vAAirlines is proud to honor the true legacy of American Airlines and the fleet types that were the workhorses of the route network leading up to where we are today. We currently offer a historic fleet ranging all of the way back to the very first aircraft and flight schedules which include many classic aircraft. We have also included the airlines that were merged into American Airlines with their approximate fleets at the time of merging. These aircraft can be found in section 4.1 above and are still to be flown in accordance with any rank restrictions as well as SOPPHB restrictions for flights flown. This means that a pilot may not operate any of the historic fleet located in any group unless they have earned the associated type rating. Even after promotion to a higher group, a pilot may continue to utilize any type rating earned from a lower group for flights. Historic flights are now designated normally on the website but associated with their respective airlines (American Airlines historic flights are listed as AAH and have the old logo but should still be flown as AAL on VATSIM). Historic flights flown now do count towards promotion total flight counts.

4.13 Diversions

Our new system does allow for diversions to be handled by automatically moving assets to the airport that you diverted to and automatically creating a flight for you to continue on to the original destination. Diversions are accepted for weather, mechanical, or other unforeseen circumstances that may arise when using realistic settings with your aircraft or flight simulator. Diversions may not be made for pilot errors or to create a city pair/charter flight intentionally and should be sparesley used. If a trend occurs of a pilot utilizing the diversion feature to create their own schedules will have subsequent flight PIREPs rejected.

After diverting to an airport, the system will automatically move you and the aircraft to the airport you chose to divert to and also create a flight back to the original destination. These schedules will show in the flight search page with a "-DV" attached to the end of the flight number. Pilots who did not make the diversion to the airport may not fly any flight in the system with "-DV" at the end of the flight number. Pilots who did make the diversion flight must complete their automatically created "-DV" flight within 24 hours of the diversion, or the "-DV" flight will be removed from the system permanently. Even through a diversion, all of the standard minimum requirements from section 4.6 apply.

5. Terms and Conditions

5.1 Resource Usage

All resources available to vAAirlines crew members are property of vAAirlines, unless otherwise stated, and are intended for use by current members only. At no time should any materials received from vAAirlines or its representatives be transmitted to any other person. Also, no material transmitted to vAAirlines Staff or crew members via email, forum post, or any other approved means of communication should include:

• Trademarked or Copyrighted material that is unauthorized to post including logos, files, etc.;
• Abusive material, threats, defamation, or personal attacks based on race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, age, veteran status, pregnancy, disability, genetic information, military service, or other protected status;
• Profanity, vulgarity, or other obscenities;
• Pornography or pornographic language; or
• Spam including unauthorized advertising or mailing.

The services provided to all users is completely free of charge and is revocable at any time at sole discretion of the vAAirlines Staff. Any abuse, including but not limited to the bullets listed above, is subject to immediate termination of current and future user accounts for vAAirlines and any associated partners/subsidiaries.

5.2 Misuse/Terrorism

September 11, 2001 was a tragic day that caused heightened sensitivity to commercial aircraft as well as training and security procedures throughout the United States and around the globe. Virtual Airlines exist for hobbyists to enjoy their passion from the comfort of their home while sharpening their aviation knowledge and skills. By joining vAAirlines, you understand that our organization is intended for flight simulation and hobbyist purposes ONLY, and at no time should be used for real world navigation or reference besides basic airman knowledge. Any suspicious behavior will be considered a real and immediate threat to the safety of our country and will be reported directly to the proper authorities in the United States Federal Government.

5.3 Piracy

vAAirlines does not condone the use or distribution of pirated software and takes seriously the use or transfer of such software or materials including login information, serial numbers, passwords, documents, etc., through approved vAAirlines channels of communication. If any crew member is found to have taken part in sending or knowingly receiving/using any pirated information through an approved channel of communication, involved members will face immediate termination and all information regarding the issue will be forwarded on to the content creator and/or authorities as necessary.

5.4 Member Conduct

Crew Members of vAAirlines are an extension of the dedicated volunteer staff team here and are required to uphold the professional standard set on all forums, networks, events, etc. both internal and externally. Any misconduct reported by an outside source or viewed by an vAAirlines member will be investigated and dealt with accordingly with punishment up to, and including, possible termination.

5.5 Social Media Usage

vAAirlines provides Facebook, Forums, Twitter, Instagram, and Discord for means of communication and socialization between members. We encourage the use of some or all of these methods to get the most out of your experience here as the platforms may also serve as a way to receive support or guidance more quickly than via emails. These methods of social media may be changed, removed, or added to as necessary.

5.6 General Terms

Website terms of use are posted on the main website by following links under Operations > Corporate Operations > Terms and Conditions or by clicking the “Full Disclaimer” link at the bottom of the page.

Table of Contents

FAQ

Begin typing your question. If we don't have an answer for it in our FAQ, please reach out to your Group Chief Pilot or post your question on Discord.

Changelog