As Southwest Airlines celebrates its 50th year of operations, we celebrate 5 wonderful years here at Southwest Virtual!
For over 1,800 days, we have seen the same ups and downs that all VAs do, but Heart has gotten us through. Heart is big among our ranks, from our staff who work tirelessly for the benefit of our pilots to the Infinite Flight aviators who call Southwest Virtual home.
We take pride in our ability to offer the most transparent and friendly experience of any VA, always ready and always improving. That’s our Heart, and it truly sets us apart. (Wow, that rhymed!)
Our Crew Center has undergone an overhaul since we joined the Flare software community. It’s easy to understand, easy to navigate, and easy to join. We knew you’d LUV it.
Discord is our home for virtual airline communications - our version of ACARS. Hit the skies, earn your server roles, and show off. Plus, we LUV to brag about our pilots’ progress on our official social media pages. We can’t wait to see what you earn and contribute!
Our staff’s #1 priority is our people. The success of a virtual airline relies on the staff’s ability to address its pilots. The team at Southwest Virtual is not short of Heart. We LUV our pilots, and they LUV us back. We are so happy and proud to watch you reach new heights, new status, and to get to know each other. Always available for questions and concerns, the people listed below are the best at what they do here at SWVA. Heart Sets Us Apart!
| Key Role | IFC |
|---|---|
| President Interim | @VixenKasai |
| Vice President Interim | @Jshnlsn |
| Director of Operations | @Chaseelliottfan9WG |
| Operations Supervisor | @Kpit_Flyer |
Operated by 5000 airlines, in 200 countries, and with 50 years of record-setting production… We LUV our Boeing 737-700s and 737-800s. The 737 is a highly capable airframe that has graced the skies since before most of us were born. People say their car makes a statement about who they are. We are lucky at Southwest Virtual to fly the Cadillac of the skies. Here’s to hoping the newest generation MAX series makes its way to the IF skies soon!
You can fly in style using any of our six Southwest liveries!
Boeing 737-700 (Canyon Blue)
Boeing 737-800 (Heart)
Maintaining a route network that grows year after year is a point of pride for our pilots and staff. We have painstakingly updated our route database to include each and every route flown by Southwest. That means new pilots get immediate access to over 1,900 real-world routes with no rank restrictions!
Taking 30 minutes or less, some routes don’t even allow you to break out the peanuts and soda! Others clocking in at 6 hours will have you hoping the lavatory is empty! From the islands of Hawaii to the shores of New England… From the land of 10,000 lakes in Minnesota to the clear blue water of Aruba… North, South, East, and West… We’ll take you there!
We are regularly updating and maintaining our route database. There are new SWA routes with service starting in 2022 which will be added, and we with offer over 120 Codeshare routes recently added (see below). We LUV expanding our route network for our pilots!
We are proud to become codeshare partners with @AirEuropaVirtual and @UPSVirtual! Air Europa is a European airline based in Madrid, Spain, flying to destinations worldwide, including Europe, South America, North America, Asia, and the Middle East. The AE Codeshare offers SWVA pilots 25 new destinations and 50 new routes on 5 new aircraft/liveries from which to choose. Along with our 75 new routes and 2 new aircraft in partnership with UPS Virtual (a leading global air freight carrier), this brings the full number of SWVA routes available to our pilots to 1,944!
Most of our new destinations connect with our current Southwest and codeshare routes, allowing our pilots to fly all over the world while racking up that sweet, sweet flight time on the way to A-List Preferred. As always, these routes are available to all pilots with no restrictions!
Codeshare Aircraft (and Liveries)
- Airbus A330-200F (UPS) - 5X Codeshare
- McDonnell Douglas MD-11F (UPS) - 5X Codeshare
- ERJ-195 (Air Europa) - UX Codeshare
- Boeing 737-800 (Generic) - UX Codeshare
- Boeing 787-8 (Generic) - UX Codeshare
- Boeing 787-9 (Air Europa) - UX Codeshare
- Airbus A330-300 (Generic) - UX Codeshare
Pilots can find all current real-world SWA flights and codeshares in our Crew Center’s easy-to-use route database. Don’t worry… We are always keeping an eye open to develop new partnerships that will serve our pilots!
We know you aren’t happy with rank restrictions. Other VAs might not get that, but we do. That’s why, for a fifth year, there are no rank restrictions on our routes, codeshares, or fleet. Climb the ranks. Show it off. Fly what you want, where you want. Feel the LUV yet?
Career Ranks
| Rank | Hours Required |
|---|---|
| Trainee | 0-10 Hours |
| Second Officer | 10-25 Hours |
| First Officer | 25-50 Hours |
| Senior First Officer | 50-75 Hours |
| Captain | 75-125 Hours |
| Senior Captain | 125-200 Hours |
| ATP Captain | 200-300 Hours |
The Rapid Rewards program is a fixture at Southwest Virtual - an offering to our pilots who loyally represent us in the Infinite Flight skies. Starting at the rank of Captain (75 hours), our pilots join the A-List rewards program, earning a multiplier on every flight. Upon reaching 300 hours as an ATP Captain the next step is the preferred step… wink wink, nudge nudge. That’s right… A-List Preferred status! This gives our pilots an even greater multiplier on their flight time, as well as a private channel for chatting with each other and sharing their ideas with staff. Wanna know the best part? Rapid Rewards multipliers add on to established multipliers for VA events, Airports of the Week, official IFC events, and group flights. Yeah, we’re crazy about our pilots. We hope you LUV it.
A-List
| Rank | Hours Required |
|---|---|
| Captain | 75-125 Hours |
| Senior Captain | 125-200 Hours |
| ATP Captain | 200-300 Hours |
A-List Preferred
| Rank | Hours Required |
|---|---|
| A-List Preferred Bronze | 300-750 Hours |
| A-List Preferred Silver | 750-1500 Hours |
| A-List Preferred Gold | 1500-2500 Hours |
| A-List Preferred Platinum | 2500+ Hours |
This year we are launching our very own newsletter! We will periodically release both an SWVA Pilot edition and an IFC edition, detailing our pilots’ successes, outlooks on necessary flight information, operational changes, and a whole lot of… Yeah, you guessed it… Heart! Be on the lookout for the first edition of TheHeartVA Report soon!
If you haven’t already, come join us on Twitter for regular updates and fun with SWVA! Catch the next Southwest Virtual event details and buttered landings (bread sold separately)! Not to mention, pilots show off their Heart by tagging us in photos and videos on Twitter & IFC get the opportunity to be featured on our official pages. Let’s share our LUV with the world!
We knew you would.
Don’t worry, submitting your application is quick and easy. We want to fly with you as soon as possible.
Application Requirements →
- An Infinite Flight Community account in good standing with at least Trust Level 1
- An active Infinite Flight Pro subscription and minimum Grade 3 status
- Ability to access Discord
- A minimum of 13 years of age
- Not listed on the IFVARB/IFC Blacklist
- Pass a written examination and check-ride
At SWVA, we maintain very high standards for pilot skill, professionalism, and regulatory compliance. If we discover a history of discipline, including suspensions, on the IFC or by IFVARB, the application may be denied. If an applicant is found to be on the IFVARB Blacklist or cannot fulfill all requirements outlined above, the application will be denied.
Application Guidelines →
- Please be patient! We make sure each and every applicant gets the attention and care they deserve, and we maintain high standards for our crew. You should receive a private message on IFC within 5 days of submitting your application.
- If you don’t receive a response within 5 days, send @VixenKasai a message! It is possible your IFC profile was not correctly linked in your application, or on rare occasions, an application gets processed incorrectly. Please do not message this VA account, as it is not routinely monitored.
- Please do not submit a duplicate application. This just makes it harder for us to process your application and delays everybody else’s applications!
- Please use private messages for all communications about your application. We keep your application information confidential, except when required for regulatory purposes to release information to IFC Staff or IFVARB. If you have a question about your application specifically, please ask your recruiter in IFC private messages.
- If you have a question about SWVA or the application process in general, feel free to post here!
We can’t wait to share the LUV with you. Remember, Heart Sets Us Apart!
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