IFVARB Information Thread - 2019

Brandon_K · April 28, 2019, 8:31pm

The Infinite Flight Virtual Airline Regulatory Board

Application Process | User Watchlist | Policies | Reservation List

The Infinite Flight Virtual Airline Regulatory Board is the governing and assisting body that controls and coordinates all efforts and operations within the VA community. The Infinite Flight Virtual Airline Regulatory Board is designed and intended to enhance the VA sector of the Infinite Flight Community.

The IFVARB is intended to make VAs more professional, organized, and in line with the guidelines and standards of the community. In addition, the IFVARB helps clear up some of the clutter on the forum that certain members find inconvenient and irritating while also making the presence of Virtual Airlines clearer and more beneficial.

Our main goal is to benefit new and existing VAs that add value to the community by creating a professional, organised, and pleasant atmosphere for like-minded individuals to thrive and grow within.

IFVARB is made up of a team of volunteers, all who bring different qualities to the table. They are dedicated and passionate about improving the VA community and making it a place for individuals and organizations to thrive.

All members of the IFVARB have been specially chosen for their maturity, expertise, and experience involving VAs and the Infinite Flight Community itself. Membership on the board is on an invitation-only basis. Please do not DM members about joining the board.

IFVARB Team Members

Staff Supervisor | Infinite Flight LLC liaison and arbiter in all disciplinary matters. Infinite Flight staff have the ability to override any and all decisions at their discretion. Staff hold the final say in arbitration.

Supervising Staff | @MishaCamp

Supervising Moderators | The community moderators that oversee all of the operations within IFVARB.

Administrators | The managers of IFVARB, frontline personnel, and point of contact for dealing with VA matters.

Administrator | @Danman
Administrator | @BluePanda900
Administrator | @Brandon_K
Administrator | @Chris_Hoover

Members & Leaders | The people who make the VARB tick with their hard work in certifying VAs.

Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All, VA Summit Overlord | @JoshFly8
Administrator Emeritus (Please do not DM) | @IceBlue

How do I reserve an airline?

You are able to reserve an airline if you meet the requirements on our Apply Page in our website. It is important to meet all the requirements and provide all the information asked for in the application to successfully reserve an airline.

How can I have my positive and negative feedback heard?

The #discussions channel of the IFVARB Slack. A member will gladly respond to your questions, praise, or concerns. In addition, you can also provide feedback on our feedback and questions thread .

What if I see a VA that may not be certified?

In this case, please personal message an Admin here on the community and they will be happy to look into it for you. Please do not inquire directly on the thread as it creates unnecessary clutter.

How do I know what Admin and Leader I’ll get assigned to?

You will get an Admin and Leader assigned to your application based on the region of your VA/VO. @Danman is assigned to original VA/VOs while the others are assigned to the regions shown below.

What are the requirements for me to apply to be a CEO for my VA/VO?

The following are the requirements needed to be a Virtual Airline/Organization CEO:

Member trust level (TL2) forum account. This must be the CEO’s own account. VA specific accounts can only be made once your VA is certified.
Knowledge and experience of the VA community- We expect applicants to understand how the IFC VA community works and ideally know people who are a part of it. ‘Experience’ is a loose term; experience in a staff team for a VA is ideal but being part of a VA as a pilot or other member may be enough to qualify you. We will also consider applicants who may not have been apart of a VA specifically but have a good forum presence and/or have been active on the forum for a long time. We will consider each applicant using their experience statement.
A Good level of maturity- We will assess this from your conduct when messaging IFVARB admins and staff, your general conduct on the forum, and in some cases will consult the moderation team for advice. There is no age limit, however, we can reject applicants based on their maturity alone.
Ensuring that it is not on the list of disallowed VAs or on the list of reserved VAs. We have been contacted by various airlines about copyright violations and asking that VA’s cease operations. The list of disallowed VA’s can be found here and the active reservations can be found here.

Thread Change-log

2018/01/26 - Updated Staff Positions to reflect staffing changes. Wording refined in some sections.
2018/02/12 - Added New Members - Welcome!
2018/02/13 - Updated Mission Statement Requirements
2018/03/02 - Added New Members - Welcome!
2018/05/13 - Refined Wording and Revised Application Requirements
2018/07/14 - Updated Staff List with new roles
2018/07/27 - Updated Staff List
2018/08/18 - Added Reservations List
2018/12/21 - Updated Staff list and Attached Threads. Added bedazzled title for Josh
2019/01/16 - Updated Slack policy.
2019/02/19 - Updated Staff List, Policy Creation and Alteration Process, Change from Blacklist to Watchlist
2019/04/28 - IFVARB Refresh: Application Process, Database, Policies, User Watchlist, and Reservation List can now be found at www.IFVARB.com

The Infinite Flight Virtual Airline Regulatory Board is not affiliated with, endorsed, or sponsored by Infinite Flight LLC.

© 2019 Infinite Flight Virtual Airline Regulatory Board

Brandon_K · April 28, 2019, 8:31pm

We are pleased to announce that we have just released our brand new website, www.IFVARB.com! Our new website was made solely to improve our application process. This means we intend that there will be no more waiting three months to start being reviewed and waiting another three months in the review process. Take a look at some of the new features down below!

If you would like to reserve a Virtual Airline or Organization, you will now have to submit the application through this Apply Page. You will then get an email that contains your reservation confirmation code which you should keep private and secure. You can enter that six digit code in our new Reservation Status Page which will allow you to view the status of your reservation and view the reviews from our IFVARB Members when available. Our new website not only expedites the application process but opens the horizon for many new features! We hope everyone enjoys it and leave your feedback in our Feedback Thread here on the Community!

For those members actively liaising with an IFVARB Admin to approve their VA/VO, please check on the reservation list to ensure that your application appears on the reservation page. Also, you will get a personal message from an Administrator that contains your new reservation code which can be used to track your reservation on our Status Page. If your airline is not present on the active reservation page, please PM your region Admin for follow-up, thanks!

Chris_Hoover · April 30, 2019, 11:02pm

Introducing “Airline Of The Month”

The IFVARB is happy to announce that they will be featuring one virtual airline every month. This will mean they will be featured on our Instagram, IFC thread and will have a community fly in to a hub of their choice. So, without further ado, let’s announce our first featured airline of the month!

Virtual Airline Of The Month (May 2019)

Singapore Airlines Virtual

May’s airline of the month features an airline based out of the great country of Singapore. Singapore Virtual features a diverse fleet, lots of unique destinations and a professional environment.

Singapore Virtual’s fly in will be located at their hub (WSSS) on 2019-05-25T15:00:00Z. This means all virtual airlines choosing to participate in their fly in should arrive at the time above.

In order to sign your VA up for the event, please PM @Chris_Hoover with the airline name and the number of people you plan on bringing, so gate assignments can be planned accordingly. If you plan to go as a singular individual without any VA affiliation, reply to the event thread linked below.

Congratulations to Singapore Airlines Virtual for being our May airline of the month!

Chris_S · April 30, 2019, 11:49pm

MishaCamp · June 20, 2019, 1:16pm

Brandon_K · June 20, 2019, 9:05pm

Hello everyone! We now have an IFVARB Group here on the community. From this point forward, if any of you have incidents that you would like to report or questions, you may simply message the group, @IFVARB, and we will get to it at our earliest convenience.

Also, we have a new feature that is currently in development. Check out a preview of the DLVA airplanes in the sky below! This map will be available to all VA/VO’s and can be embedded straight into any website. We currently have no ETA of when this will be released. Let us know what you think in our Feedback Thread.

© 2019 Infinite Flight Virtual Airline Regulatory Board

Chris_Hoover · June 24, 2019, 2:42am

Virtual Airline Of The Month (June 2019)

Air Canada Virtual

Congratulations to Air Canada Virtual for being our June virtual airline of the month! Known for their good ol Canadian attitude and shared love for maple syrup, this virtual airline has been a huge part of Infinite Flight’s community for over two years now.

What better way is there to celebrate this special occasion than to have a huge event featuring them?! The IFVARB has teamed up with the mastermind of events , @Balloonchaser, to create one big event within the pacific series. This event will take place on June 29th, and will also help us get Air Canada Virtual ready for Canada day which is the day following this event. The event thread is linked below.

Once again congratulations to Air Canada Virtual! We all can’t wait to celebrate and are looking forward to having the prestigious virtual airline continue to be apart of the community for many days, weeks, months and years to come.

BluePanda900 · July 31, 2019, 8:43pm

We are pleased to announce the addition of eight new members to the VARB team. Each of the following people brings their own unique assets to our already diverse skillset of our current member pool. They all have significantly contributed to the community in some way, are active and mature individuals and many have had some prior VA experience. Welcome to the team:

Levet · July 31, 2019, 8:51pm

DeerCrusher · October 10, 2019, 5:40pm

BluePanda900 · October 10, 2019, 5:52pm

Recently, there has been an increase in the number of users wishing to join the VARB. While the interest is appreciated, currently, there is not a need to message any administrator with your intent to join.

VARB members are specially selected based on several criteria, and are not simply selected based on the fact that they wish to join. While interest is important, there are also other factors that go into selecting future members. In fact, messaging an administrator is likely to guarantee that you will not be selected as a member in the near future. Everyone of our members brings something unique to the table, whether it being community involvement and experience, VA experience or expertise in a specific area pertinent to the work being completed on the board.

There can and will be opportunities for community members to apply to become VARB members, though at this time, applications are not being accepted. When applications are being accepted, we welcome anyone to apply with the required information, though not everyone who applies will be selected.

Maturity is a major criterion when evaluating potential members, and the ability to engage and enhance a discussion goes far in the community and in life. Asking to join the team is similar to asking to join a sports team — there is a process that must be followed to participate, and not everyone is able to join.

As always, if you have any quesions, please utilize the feedback and questions thread linked below to get in touch with a VARB representative.

DeerCrusher · October 10, 2019, 5:52pm

Levet · November 3, 2019, 9:39pm

Chris_Hoover · November 3, 2019, 9:51pm

Application Reminders

Hello everyone, as the number of VA applications that the IFVARB receives increases on the daily, we have decided to remind prospective applicants of the application requirements, and the things we will deny applications for.

Applicant Requirements
• Applicants must be TL2 or above.
• They must be in good standing with the IFVARB.
• They must act mature through all aspects of the community and through the certification process.

Note: Prospective applicants may be screened in order to determine their level of maturity and how it affects their eligibility to start a VA. The IFVARB has the right to deny any application of the applicant does not seem fit for the CEO position.

Application Requirements
• The VA must not be a duplicate or banned VA.
• The IF Community name section should be the CEOs IFC username without the @ symbol.
• The experience statement must be provided and must cover all of the required aspects which can be found by clicking here.The statement should be written in detail as well. (Please make sure this is a google doc that has permissions set to everyone can view.)
• The operations plan must be provided and must cover all of the required aspects which can be found by clicking here.The statement should be written in detail. (Please make sure this is a google doc that has permissions set to everyone can view.)

Reasons We Deny Applications
• The CEO is unfit to run a VA.
• The airline that was applied for is a duplicate or banned VA.
• The experience statement and operations plan is either not provided or not viewable.
• There is a mistake found in the basic information part of the application.
• Copyright issues.

Note: It is important to remember that there may be other circumstances in which we deny your application.

If your application is denied for any of the reason above, you will have to wait 45 days to reapply, so it’s important to make sure you have all of the required information in your application.

The IFVARB is very strict with the 45 days rule, as we hold our CEOs to a high standard. So if something is missing, you are going to have to wait.

This can be used as a guide if you are struggling with your VA application. Please feel free to message any of the admins if you have questions regarding the quality of your application.

Levet · November 3, 2019, 10:08pm

DeerCrusher · December 3, 2019, 9:53pm

Chris_Hoover · December 3, 2019, 10:13pm

December Update

Happy December everyone, the countdown till Christmas Hanukkah Kwanza etc. has already begun, and I hope you’re having a good time preparing yourself for the holidays.

The IFVARB has made a few changes in official policy due to the amount of VAs that we are approving that end up closing down a month or two later just so staff members and the CEO can go participate in what they think is a bigger and better VA.

Now before I go on to announce the policy, I just to make this clear. When you make a VA, don’t give up on it too easily. If you are expecting a bunch of pilots right off the bat, well that’s not the reality. It took three years for VAs like BAVA and DLVA for example to grow and get to their current pilot numbers. So it’s not going to be something that happens overnight. Stick with your VAs and be passionate about them, and you will some day have a lot of pilots who are eager to fly with you guys.

Now, the fun part. Here are the two new policies.

CEO Cooldown Times: CEOs must wait 6 months from the date of resignation to be eligible to take up a staff position or another CEO position in another VA. So, if you resign as a CEO today, you must wait until June 3rd 2020 to be eligible to become a staff member or CEO again.

Staff Member Cooldown And Position Allotment: Staff members are now only allowed to be staff in one VA of their choice. In addition to that, staff members that resign from VAs must wait 90 days from the date of resignation before they can take up another staff position somewhere else.

These policies will come into effect this Friday the 6th at 1200Z. So you have until then to figure out your situations.

Experience Statement Requirements

In order to ensure our CEOs are good candidates for the position, we’ve added a few more questions to our experience statement. The new experience statement template is as follows.

Why do you want to start (VA name)?
What do you hope to get by starting (VA name)?
Why do you think you are a good candidate to run (VA name)?
What previous experience do you have in the IF VA community?
Where do you see your VA 3 months after launch?
Where do you see the biggest challenges for your new VA?
What would you do, if after 3 months, your VA only had 5 pilots?

The new experience statement questions must now be answered and this required template goes into effect now.

As always if you have any questions or comments please feel free to let us know in the feedback thread. Thank you all for your cooperation and I hope you have a great holiday season!

-Hoover

DeerCrusher · December 3, 2019, 10:14pm

Important information above

#greasylandings

Marc · January 12, 2020, 8:55pm