Document Soaring above all. 1
[Intentionally Left Blank] 2
Changelog EJ Davis Added Phoenix Hub 4/22/13 EJ Davis Changed Ranks 5/31/13 EJ Davis Added Executive Vice President Voting 5/31/13 EJ Davis New Pilot hiring policy 7/1/13 Ada Erzurumlu Updated SOP document reflecting current Operations 12/4/13 Pilots, How great it is to have seen our airline grow from just a handful of pilots to over 300 active members contributing to make our virtual airline amongst the best in the business. We have seen new improvements within our real world counterpart, American Airlines, and it has motivated us to do the same at AAvirtual. This document has been written over the course of a few months and carefully thought out to address many problems. You can consider this document the backbone of our airline. When our staff is asked to answer questions, we will often quote from this document because the guidelines and rules set out in this document are meant to answer any and all questions related to our airline. We ask that you take the opportunity to read through this SOP and let it be your guide. For now, let me thank you for making AAvirtual your home airline and we consider it a privilege to have you amongst our pilots Sincere Regards, EJ Davis AAL1002 - COO 3
Section A Administration and Duties 1. Chief Executive Officer Responsible for all staff members, negotiating partnerships with other virtual airlines and serves as the ambassador of the airline when meetings with partner airlines occur. Sole power is given to the CEO to provide or deny pilots or staff members exceptions to procedures listed in the SOP, and for maintaining the website. In the future, an SOP amendment may be enacted to split the website duty from the Chief Executive Officer and create a new position centered on maintaining the website. The Chief Executive Officer is a voting member of the American Executive Staff. Current staff member Ada Erzurumlu is a member of the Elite team and holds 50% ownership of website and data stored on the website. a. Staff Callsign AAL1001 2. Chief Operating Officer Responsible for hiring and removing staff from the roster and coordinating between executive and general staff. The Chief Operating Officer is a voting member of the American Executive Staff. Current staff member EJ Davis is a member of the Elite team and holds 50% ownership of website and data stored on the website a. Staff Callsign AAL1002 3. Vice President of Human Resources Responsible for Coordinating between staff and pilots, providing assistance to pilots, maintaining a higher than normal presence on VATSIM and on the airline TeamSpeak and engaging in activities that boost pilot morale. This member has sole authority on executing a permanent pilot ban from the airline. The Vice President of Human Resources is a voting member of the American Executive Staff. a. Staff Callsign AAL1003 4
4. Vice President of Events Responsible for designing and creating events for the virtual airline, coordinating with VATSIM ATC, coordinating with other VA s (when applicable) and for initiating relationships with commercial sponsors for distribution to Turkish pilots. The Vice President of Events is a voting member of the Turkish Executive Staff. a. Staff Callsign AAL1004 5. Vice President of Fleet Responsible for maintaining route and fleet accuracy for the airline as well as for appointing flight operations managers to assist in adding routes and checking for accuracy. The Vice President of Fleet and Routes is a voting member of the American Executive Staff. a. Staff Callsign AAL1005 6. Vice President of Training Responsible for maintaining our pilot s proficiency on both controlling their aircraft and coordinating with air traffic controllers while flying on the VATSIM network. The Vice President of Training is a voting member of the Executive Staff. a. Staff Callsign AAL1006 7. Hub Managers Responsible for the hub they are assigned and to check their rosters and make sure pilots are staying active. They are given the proper tools to help promote hub activity and to approve PIREPS. The Hub Managers, though not voting members, are still held to the staff requirements mentioned later in this section of the document. a. Charlotte Hub Manager Callsign AAL2000 b. New York Hub Manger Callsign AAL3000 c. Miami Hub Manager Callsign AAL4000 d. Chicago Hub Manager Callsign AAL5000 e. Dallas Hub Manager Callsign AAL6000 f. Los Angeles Hub Manager Callsign AAL7000 5
Section B Staff Requirements and Preferences Staff are expected to: 1. Fly at least 50% of their flights at least partially online on VATSIM 2. Fly two or more flights a month 3. Set the example in being active on the forum, Facebook page, and on TeamSpeak. 4. Fly only for American Virtual or its partner virtual airlines a. The CEO is authorized to grant exceptions to pilots, though he is under no obligation to do so and it is preferred that he does not. 5. Act respectfully towards all members of the VA and not abuse the powers given to them on the airline website, Facebook, or TeamSpeak. 6. Staff must attend mandatory staff meetings or alert the COO to their absence, which should be avoided as much as possible. Section C Staff Meetings, Promotions and Demotions 1. Every last Sunday of the month is reserved for mandatory staff meetings in which all hub managers, vice presidents and executive vice presidents are expected to appear. 2. Additional meetings can be called by either the Vice President of Operations or the Chief Executive Officer. 3. Demotions of hub managers may initiate from any Executive Staff member 4. Demotions of Vice Presidents or Executive Vice Presidents must be initiated by either the COO or CEO. 5. The CEO may never be voted out of office. a. Under a full board vote, the CEO can be put on a 45 day probation at which time the COO will cease control of the airline while the CEO is given direction to correct his 6
previous error. The CEO may not vote for his own probation hearing. 6. The COO may not be voted out except in the case of a long term absence. a. To remove the COO, he must not have flown in over 90 days or neglected his responsibilities for 90 days. A full board vote of unanimous accord is required to expel the COO. The COO may not vote in his own removal vote. 7. Executive Vice Presidents must be voted in by the executive staff. a. Vice President s must be voted in under a SUPER majority vote (at least 4/5ths of the current EVP s must approve the appointment) Section D Pilot Suspensions 1. Hub managers are responsible for deleting pilots from the VA in their respective hubs a. The CEO or COO may at any time intercede in deleting a pilot from the roster and may do so for any reason. They cannot suspend or ban a pilot indefinitely without the approval of the VP-HR. 2. As stated earlier, only the HR director has the authority to permanently suspend a pilot from the network. a. Any VP or HM can recommend a pilot be permanently removed from the airline Section E Rank Structure 1. Commuter Pilot (CAT-I) a. Pays v$18/hour 7
b. Rank for 0-74.9 hours c. Able to fly all regional aircraft from American Eagle, A320, 737-400, 737-800 d. No codeshare or charter flights are permitted 2. Transatlantic Pilot (CAT-II) a. Pays v$50/hour b. Rank for 75-149.9 hours c. Able to fly all CAT-I planes and A321, A330, and 757 s. d. Permitted to fly all equivalent codeshare aircraft and smaller. e. Permitted to fly charter flights 3. Senior Pilot (CAT-III) a. Pays v$100/hour b. Rank for 150 249.9 hours and greater c. Able to fly and CAT-II planes and 767 s d. Permitted to fly all equivalent codeshare aircraft and smaller. e. Permitted to fly charter flights 4. Executive Pilot (CAT-IV) a. Pays v$150/hour b. Rank for 250 hours and greater c. Able to fly and CAT-III planes and 777 s d. Permitted to fly all codeshare aircraft and smaller. e. Permitted to fly charter flights Section F Pilot Expectancies & Hiring Policies 1. Pilots may not fly for other virtual American Airlines. 2. Pilots are not allowed to fly for rival VAs to our partners (Ex: a rival to 8
www.skywardsva.com) 4. Pilots are expected to respect one another and the staff at all times no matter what the situation 5. Pilots do not need to fly online, however it is highly recommended that you do so on the VATSIM network. 6. Pilots are not allowed to file a PIREP with a landing rate higher than -650fpm. Any PIREP filed with a landing rate above -650fpm will not be accepted. 7. Pilots may not file more than 6 manual PIREPs a month and may only file at a max of 2 per day 8. Pilots must file at least one flight a month. 9. Pilots are not allowed to request hub transfers within 90 days of joining or previously requesting a hub transfer. 10. Pilots are only allowed to fly planes within their rank. Any PIREPs filed with an aircraft outside of your rank will not be accepted. 11. Pilots must include www.aavirtual.net in their remarks section while flying on VATSIM. a. While flying codeshare or charter flights, pilots must use the appropriate call sign and should include www.aavirtual.net in your remarks section while flying on the VATSIM network. 12. New pilots can receive credit for time spent on VATSIM towards their new hire hours a. Up to 1/4 th of the hours on VATSIM, at a maximum of 125 Questions should be referred to support@aavirtual.net 9
AAvirtual is happy to serve you and is available by email to respond to any questions you may have. Please check out our TeamSpeak and our Facebook page as listed on the main website to check in on our community of pilots, and thanks for choosing AAvirtual! Sincerely Yours, AAvirtual Staff 10