IFVARB Constitution Discussion

Live VA
#1

In the ongoing effort to create a centralized process for VAs in this category, I thought that I’d put together a little something where all of you as a community can powwow on how this should work and voice your concerns.

Now, before raging in the comments, remember that all of this is theoretical. We in the board want to see the sort of setup you guys have expectations for and go from there. What do you want us to do? How far can our powers go? Some of what we can do is set in stone, as several of you are aware, so keep that in mind. Enjoy, and comment below!

IFVARB Constitution

=======================================================================

  • Article I: Powers of the IFVARB
  • The IFVARB shall be the entity that sets rules and regulations governing VAs under the guidance of the moderation team.
    • All new rules or regulations must be run past a member of the moderation team for approval before coming in to action.
  • The IFVARB shall have a means of communicating a list of approved VAs and their contact information to all members of the IFC.
  • Designated administrators of the IFVARB shall be a party for non-binding arbitration that mediates any form of dispute between VAs, members of VAs, and any other disputes involving a VA.
  • All members of the IFVARB administration team should be reachable within two (2) days from initial contact from any other member of the IFVARB, or any person on the IFC. A member of the IFVARB that will be unable to fulfill this requirement should notify the chairperson or vice-chairperson before, or as soon as possible into the period they will be unreachable.
  • The IFVARB shall keep an updated list of approved VAs and contact information of those VAs for the perusal of IFC members at all times.
  • The IFVARB has the right to penalize if this constitution is broken by a VA, but only after explicit permission from the moderation team.
  • The IFVARB has the right to investigate matters of importance on the IFC. It cannot investigate matters on third party platforms, such as discord or slack. The only exception is if action can be done on the forums to the offender on a third party platform, in which the IFVARB would contact a moderator for guidance.

  • Article II: Rights of VAs

    • VAs shall be granted the right of appeal to any decision made by the IFVARB:
      • The first level of appeal shall be to the IFVARB board of directors, attached in the appeal shall be evidence disputing the IFVARB’s findings.
      • The second level of appeal shall be to the moderators of the IFC, who shall only hear appeals on the grounds of personal vendettas against the VA owner.
  • VAs shall be given thirty (30) days after a notice of violation to correct issues that the IFVARB finds in contradiction of its rules and regulations on VAs. If the issue is not corrected after thirty (30) days, the VA will be removed from the list of approved VAs.
    • After the thirty (30) days, VA owners has the right to ask for a deadline extension at the discretion of the IFVARB.
  • VAs have the right to raise concerns about the conduct of any member of the IFVARB:
    • If the concern regards a member of the IFVARB, the complaint should be taken in the first instance to the chairperson of the IFVARB. If the VA feels the IFVARB have not taken a fair and acceptable course of action, then they shall execute the appeals process at the second level.
    • If the concern regards the chairperson or vice-chairperson of the IFVARB, the complaint shall be taken to the moderators of the IFC.
      IFVARB shall be responsible for informing VAs about any updates in rules (under IFVARB rules), especially if the new rule conflicts with any current VAs operations/structure.
    • In the case which is mentioned above where a rule conflicts with any VAs operations/structure, the IFVARB shall be open to negotiation between said VA(s) and the IFVARB. The rule shall only pass when negotiation has reached a mutual agreement from all parties involved.
  • No VA shall be persecuted for any rule/guideline (under IFVARB regulations) which:
    • Contradicts this Constitution
    • The VA has been explicitly exempted/excused from
    • Has not been written explicitly on any official platform (e.g. IFVARB rules) for at least seven (7) days. This is so to give ample time to VAs to take action.
    • Has not reached full, explicit mutual consensus/agreement from all existing members of the IFVARB (or involved parties like mentioned above)
    • Violation was not under the rules at the time of offence
  • Article III: VA Application Process
  • The IFVARB shall remain contactable for new VA owners to apply for approval.
  • VAs shall submit all information and documents required for compliance with the Rules and Regulations for VAs through PM to an IFVARB Administrator.
    • Applications shall be processed by the IFVARB within two (2) days. The board of the IFVARB must examine the submitted documents and ensure that the proposed VA meets all the requirements in the Rules and Regulations for VAs before approving the VA and adding it to the database.
  • The IFVARB will assign a specific member tasked with this role. This person shall report back to the other members, vice-chairperson and chairperson on his/her findings, and a recommendation of the suitability of the VA
  • All three (3) members of the IFVARB administration must be agreement on the acceptance or rejection of the VA, which will include either the chairperson or the vice-chairperson. For a VA to be approved, there must be no members recommending rejection of the VA.
  • Grounds of acceptance and rejection must be recorded and be available for the VA owner, or the IFC moderators to view.
  • Article IV: Assessment Process
  • IFVARB will assign three members to assess the VA, for approval
    • The Three (3) members of the IFVARB must be agreement on the acceptance or rejection of the VA, which will include either the chairperson or the vice-chairperson. For a VA to be approved, there must be no members recommending rejection of the VA.
    • The three members will grade each VA on a set of criteria and score them out of 10. Once all scores are submitted, the total shows their result. 21/30 shall be passing grade, and any VA which scores below that will go through an amendment process.
    • Grounds of acceptance and rejection must be recorded and be available for the VA owner, or the IFC moderators to view.
  • Article V: Amendment Process
  • With scores in, an IFVARB administrator contacts the VA CEO with the results.
  • The person shall inform the CEO of the issues found, if they didn’t pass the assessment.
  • The CEO will then have fifteen (15) days to fix the issues provided.
    • If no change is made, or the changes made is deemed below standard by the administrator, then the VA will be forced to cease operations.
    • If the change is deemed adequate by the administrator, then they are deemed official.
  • A CEO may restart his VA after twenty-eight (28) days, so long as no other person has restarted his VA.

  • Article VI: Grounds of Denial

    • If any VA is found to be violating the Rules and Regulations for VAs, their application shall not be approved.
    • If the owner of a VA is found to be in bad standing in the IFC, their application shall not be approved.
    • If the owner of a VA is placed in bad standing in the IFC after their VA is approved, the VA shall be given seven (7) days to expel the owner and replace him/her and replace them with a member in good standing. If an alternate owner is not found, the VA must be removed from the database.
      • VAs have the right to request their case to be reviewed after twenty-eight (28) days from initial review, if they believe the standing of their owner has improved.

  • Article VII: Selection of Members

    • Members of the board of the IFVARB must be in good standing in the IFC.
    • There shall be no less than five (5) members excluding the chairperson at any time.
    • Members shall be appointed by the administration team, after a background check and approval by a member of the moderation team.
    • There shall be no more than two (2) administrators excluding the chairperson at any time. These people will be respectable and responsible members of the IFC, and if they must be changed, new administrators must be approved by the moderation team.
    • Two (2) members of the IFVARB shall be classed as moderators within the IFVARB. They will check the scorings of all board members. They will be selected by the administration team, and must be respectable and responsible members of the IFC. They must be approved by the moderation team.
    • Two (2) CEOs of VAs approved by the IFVARB shall be chosen by the IFVARB chairperson, with the approval of the moderators, shall serve as non-voting advisers to the board. The advisers shall be changed every three (3) months.

  • Article VIII: Offences and Punishment

  • For a offence to have been committed, a rule must be broken, and an administrator of the IFVARB must identify if true. If so, a member of the moderation team shall be contacted and action shall be taken from there.
  • For a punishment to be given, a moderator must agree that a VA members action is explicitly breaking a rule set here. Then, the moderator must agree with the proposed punishment by the administrator of the IFVARB.
  • Offences (and possible punishments)
    • Nuisance (i.e: changing VA’s over five times within a week-long period, spamming any of the administrators/moderators, contacting us or alerting us of a dispute that’s on irrelevant pretenses).
    • Dishonesty (i.e: lying about VA inactivity, lying about disputes, etc).
    • Insolence (i.e: speaking in a hostile way, being disrespectful towards the IFVARB or any VA, speaking offensively to or about any member of the IFVARB, or member of any VA.
    • Immaturity (i.e: throwing tantrums, demanding things, etc).
  • All rules of the community still apply.

Hash away, guys. Let’s see what everyone can think of and go from there. I definitely want to establish the jurisdiction of our reach and protect the rights of VAs from the get go. It’s only fair for you guys running VAs to operate knowing that you’re covered with whatever the heck this is going to cover.

(Made this a wiki, by the way.)

31 Likes
#2

Hehe we’re not that controversial about your ideas.
It looks like a good process for the IFVARB to undertake to make VAs better. Maybe see how it works for a little while and then decide which procedure to use? Well grounded VAs would be suitable for this “test” IMO.

1 Like
#5

But honestly, I do think there needs to be a set of rules and regulations about Vas. But not call it the IFVARB constitution. I do have an idea on how to make it sound better

1 Like
#6

Yeah I was just going to say it could be called regulations

2 Likes
#7

It needs to be more like how the FAA governs pilots and such in a similar format

1 Like
#8

This is in bold and magnified. Seriously. It’s a document intended to highlight the responsibilities and expectations of VAs and the board, as well as to measure what we can and can’t do. I take the time to make it open ended to the community to have a voice and you still find a way to nitpick.

We can go full hardcore crack mode and shut down opinion, if you like. Sure, we wouldn’t get very far. but you get my point.

1 Like
#9

Yeah maybe a VA rules handbook would be good, and then final testing could take place? Just so VAs are constructed and arranged better.

1 Like
#15

I feel that the constituition should put both VAs and IFVARB on even grounds.
Laws should be foolproof, and without loopholes.

I would add to it if I were a regular. Give me a while more.

2 Likes
#17

Very organized. Interesting…

2 Likes
#18

You can still add your input in a post, you don’t need to edit it in if you can’t. This isn’t a regular-only discussion. :)

2 Likes
#19

Yea, I’ll still do that :)
What I meant was edit directly on the OP

1 Like
#20

Ok, just wanted to make it clear. :)

4 Likes
#22

Should we have a group PM with all the VA heads/reps to battle to the fiery end about what should be on there 🤣

2 Likes
#23

Nope. That won’t go well. I have a set idea I think that would be good would just like a response from josh or another IFVARB rep

#24

I think this is a great idea.

I think some more clarity is needed around what is expected from the IFVARB.

We at BA have had experiences with the IFVARB where one week we are getting 100% backing and support and on other weeks we are the victim of complaints and are having no support at all. I understand that the IFVARB is ever developing and their remit area is ever changing but for sure some clarity around what powers they do have and in what areas they can enforce within is very much needed.

Before all this takes place though, personally I think that the IFVAB board members should be elected in by the Heads of VAs. A vote of confidence shall we say. I understand the mod backing, but Mods don’t speak for the VAs. A simple vote of confidence would then allow the IFVARB to work as an elected body meaning more respect and appreciation of their decisions.

I think the IFVARB is a great idea in principal, but for me as the CEO of a large VA with over 100 active members (and other large VA leaders), I need a little confidence in who I am turning to to ratify my decisions.

10 Likes
#25

Here are my suggestions:

  • The IFVARB shall be the entity that sets rules and regulations governing VAs under the guidance of the moderation team.
  • The IFVARB shall have a means of communicating a list of approved VAs and their contact information to all members of the IFC.
  • Designated board members of the IFVARB shall be a party for non-binding arbitration that mediates any form of dispute between VAs, members of VAs, and any other disputes involving a VA.
  • The IFVARB shall meet no less than two (2) times per month via a previously agreed-upon channel to consider new VA applications. Minutes shall be kept and released in the form of a PDF by an appointed secretary. The minutes shall include all VA applications and reasons for approval/rejection.
  • EXCEPTION: If there are no open VA applications/reviews, the board of directors shall meet to ensure any new VA application is processed within two (2) weeks. (See Article III: VA Application Process)
  • The IFVARB shall keep an updated list of approved VAs and contact information of those VAs for the perusal of IFC members at all times.
  • VAs shall be granted the right of appeal:
  • The first level of appeal shall be to the IFVARB board of directors, attached in the appeal shall be evidence disputing the IFVARB’s findings.
  • The second level of appeal shall be to the moderators of the IFC, who shall only hear appeals on the grounds of personal vendettas against the VA owner.
  • VAs shall be given thirty (30) days after a notice of violation to correct issues that the IFVARB finds in contradiction of its rules and regulations on VAs. If the issue is not corrected after thirty (30) days, the VA will be removed from the list of approved VAs.
  • After the thirty (30) days, VA owners has the right to ask for a deadline extension at the discretion of the IFVARB.
  • The IFVARB shall establish a Google form to standardize the VA application process
  • VAs shall submit all information and documents required for compliance with the Rules and Regulations for VAs in an agreed-upon file format to a file depository provided by the IFVARB that can be accessed through the aforementioned Google form.
  • Applications shall be processed by the IFVARB within two (2) weeks. The board of the IFVARB must examine the submitted documents and ensure that the proposed VA meets all the requirements in the Rules and Regulations for VAs before approving the VA and adding it to the database.
  • The IFVARB must be in unanimous agreement before approving/rejecting an application.review.
  • Grounds of acceptance and rejection must be provided in the meeting minutes.
  • If any VA is found to be violating the Rules and Regulations for VAs, their application shall not be approved.
  • If the owner of a VA is found to be in bad standing in the IFC, their application shall not be approved.
  • If the owner of a VA is placed in bad standing in the IFC after their VA is approved, the VA shall be given seven (7) days to expel the owner and replace him/her and replace them with a member in good standing. If an alternate owner is not found, the VA must be removed from the database.
  • Members of the board of the IRVARB must be in good standing in the IFC.
  • There shall be no less than five (5) members excluding the chairperson and vice-chair at any time.
  • Members shall be appointed by the moderators of the IFC and/or FDS staff on the recommendation of the IFVARB executive.
  • Two (2) owners of VAs approved by the IFVARB shall be randomly selected from the list of approved VAs to serve as non-voting advisors to the board. The advisors shall be changed every two (2) months or every two (2) meetings, whichever comes first.

end

Did I accidentally write a set of bylaws? Oops.

10 Likes
#26

Wow, you like writing :-)
I think all that would work perfectly!

1 Like
#27

I suggest under Article IV: In case of doubt, the case will go to IFC for voting, memebers of the airline are not allowed to vote.

1 Like
#28

You would use a public poll to check who has voted.

3 Likes
#29

I think we should limit the number of airlines to its country of origin. So let’s say Country A in real life has 3 airlines, then, we only limit it to 6 airlines in the VA sector.