Hi mates! Uhh i plan on creating a specific airline in real life in infinite flight and fly for it, but I still extremely confused about the process.
I know IFVARB, but.. I don’t have a trust level on the IFC, operations plan not sure what to out there, since southwind is partially charter and constantly swaps aircrafts on routes.. And also the experience statement, which I never managed an virtual airline or organization in IF, but I did manage lots of aviation related projects outside IF.
I have the airline website, but other requirements.. Not sure even how to fulfil them.
Also, I don’t really want to use IFC much, since discord is just easier and I don’t have to do a double work chatting here and on discord.
Hey there, welcome to the community! I’m afraid I don’t have a lot of help in the way you might be wanting, but I do have some advice that I think you should take:
First, join a VA. See how it’s run. Spend at least a year flying for it, learning the nuances, what makes it better, what makes it worse. This will provide you with the experience. It’s been stated many different times around the forum in the past that starting a VA requires a lot of commitment, money, time, experience, and heart. Not only do you have to set up a website, provide features that make the VA appealing to members, and run a discord server, you have to maintain this, the routes database, all the data and incoming applications, protect your members’ confidential data, and so much more. It’s no small undertaking, and if you don’t already have experience to support your endeavor, you’re very likely to experience setbacks, and perhaps even see the VA fail to even get off its feet. And no one likes seeing this happen.
So I would spend some time in a VA. Get to know the community. One thing people forget is that maybe there’s a reason why this particular VA isn’t around, either because of demand, past failed attempts, etc.
The other thing you can do is whenever the new LIVE mode gets released to the public, create your own organization that way. It would be a little less formal, but still allow members to join you.
Routes databases is merely not a hassle, since southwind irl is not your average full service with dozens of dozens of planes and routes. I am flying for tui va aswell, there I just take an aircraft that I want and fly.
Each va chooses a different way of running operations, and that’s I know. But managing a virtual airline, I don’t see anything aside for recruiting pilots, making sure your pilots fly real routes of the airline, manage a small database, and miscellaneous things. Unfortunately I managed way more difficult projects in other platforms for years, not stopping even when nothing works yet.
Southwind itself, i don’t see a single major reason why no one made the airline a virtual one on IF; Almost certain because it’s a quite new and less known airline.
You should work up your Trust level on IFC and join or become staff at any VA and gain experience and once you hit TL2 you can submit your own VA application, Also on that link above theres guidelines for creating VA’s
The IFVARB is a whole different kind of beast it is far more regulated than other sim platforms so it’s definitely best to know what you’re getting into before trying to create an IFVARB certified VA.
Still, regulation is good. IFVARB has proper communication, and I’d take the application over and over than hop into some Sim with aegean based in cobber peddy.
I mean now we are super off topic but… I’m sure there are some however most VAs are just their own entity or part of an alliance of sorts. IF having the IFC as a place for VAs to work out of is super unique.
Hi, starting a virtual airline is a great, but it requires time, commitment, and good planning. Before launching, make sure you understands and fulfil the rules and conditions by IFVARB, avoid copying content or branding from other virtual airlines.
If you need help, don’t hesitate to ask experienced virtual airline owners or community members for guidance and also spend some time on IFC to gain some trust level.
Before starting your personal VA, i would recommend you to join any VA you like and observe, how they manage their VA, what are the procedures and techniques to make a VA successful in future.
Hope to see you soon, if you’ll be interested in making VA in future.
Again, I’ve already long time ago decided how the va will work, and already found the perfect balance between realism, actual airline operations, and still pilots will have freedom to fly on a certain type of aircraft more often, or pick a round trip from the few routes il daily post, also avoiding having lots of flights to a specific destination, while another destination gets none.
I still do not understand the time and commitment. I am not a marketer, not an event planner, but excel in managing operations, something I do already for years outside infinite flight too. So yeah, I do think southwind deserves a chance, even if i did not work as a va CEO for years, even if the airline is very not known outside russia, parts of europe and Turkey.
Sadly, failed. Il retry again with IFVARB in a few months. What I saw is that they are forcing airlines to some standards that not every airline needs that. For example, pilots pfps and some description - we are a realistic airline on IF, we do not need that. Adding every single aircraft to the fleet - we don’t need all 14 planes when only I’m an active pilot.
Even with IFVARB cert, I do not see any way it will benefit us.
The purpose of these requirements is not to dictate how a VA operates internally, but to ensure that its website presents the organisation clearly and professionally to both existing and prospective members.
Pilot profiles including the profile pictures and a brief description of the role help establish who is in charge of and operating the VA and give visitors to the website an immediate understanding of its staff and their roles. This contributes to the overall presentation and legitimacy of the organisation, as with any real world business. A VA website should be more than simply a place for an existing pilot to record flights through the Crew Center; it should also function as the public representation of the VA.
Displaying the full fleet is arguably more important. The fleet page is designed to communicate what aircraft the VA operates or intends to operate, rather than simply documenting which aircraft are currently being flown. The fact that there is currently only one active pilot does not make the other aircraft irrelevant. A prospective pilot visiting the website needs to be able to see the available fleet and determine whether the VA offers the aircraft and operations they are interested in.
In other words, the website should be designed with both the current membership and prospective membership in mind. A VA may have one active pilot today and fourteen in a month, maybe a few dozen after a few months. Removing aircraft from the fleet page simply because they are not currently being flown would make the website less useful to someone considering joining.
The IFVARB requirements therefore provide a baseline standard of presentation and transparency. They are not suggesting that every aircraft must be flown regularly or that a VA must have a large membership. They ensure that the website accurately represents the VA as an organisation.
Ultimately, “we don’t currently need it” and “it isn’t useful or necessary for the website” are two different things. The requirements are intended to address the latter, while allowing the VA’s membership and activity level to change over time.
On an additional note, you were relying on AI credits to make your website, which was part of the problem in your case.
it is far more regulated than other sim platforms so it’s definitely best to know what you’re getting into before trying to create an IFVARB certified VA.