Virtual United Airlines May 2015 Press Release
Virtual United Airlines is pleased to release this press release on the happenings within our virtual airline. We provide you information from our chief administrative officer and our departments of airline operations, technology, and communications.
It has been a busy few weeks here at Virtual United. We have made several changes to our Executive Management and our various departments (i.e. airline operations, technology, and communications).
These changes are the embodiment of our commitment to our pilots to provide the best in regards to staff professionalism and pilot experience. Here at Virtual United, we are constantly looking for ways to improve the pilot experience; bringing creativity and innovation to new heights and most of all – creating strong, lasting bonds between pilots and staff within our community. We invite to come and be a part of our growing community of pilots; come and experience Virtual United for yourselves. For the pilots that are, and have been with us through it all; we extend a heartfelt thank you.
Airline Operation consist of our seven Hubs. Chicago, Houston, Newark, San Francisco, LA, and Denver and its not just about flying its about having fun flying, challenging each other, pushing the limits of your training. This can be done through numerous ways including Group Flights, difficult approaches or landing rate initiatives not to mention numerous giveaways. One of the best ways been Battle of the Hubs. It begins with the group stage, final four, two Hub enter one Hub leave. Its an opportunity you cant miss. We have put together some of the brightest and game changing Pilots as Domicile Manages who lead the Hubs into
unchartered territories. This is where you want to be, let your mind lead and your body will follow.
Only virtualua.org can offer this much prize for an Event. Coming this Summer to Continue reading
Virtual United Airlines Announces Release of new ACARS 3.0
Virtual United Airlines (www.virtualua.org), had a very busy month during September 2014. First off Robert Sayles has rejoined us at the helm as CEO of the VA and has brought many new changes with him. As a result we’ve lost some staff members, but at the same time we’ve added new, fresh, innovative minds to the staff team to help move the VA in the direction we feel is right. We’ve added three HR Reps to aid the HR Director in his duties. Executive management has also seen some changes with the addition of Christian Bay as Executive Vice President of Administration and Keith Lovell as Executive Vice President of Technology and Chief Information Officer, formerly the positions of Shelton McCallop and Dimitri Trofimuk respectively.
A few big changes are underway here at Virtual UA, perhaps none larger than the rollout of our new ACARS program currently undergoing Beta testing. We will be rolling out ACARS v3 on November 1st, 2014, alongside an ACARS launch event currently in the making. ACARS v3 is not only an upgrade or simply a bug patch. It’s a complete rework from the ground up and represents the countless hours we spend behind the scenes making this VA better for you.
The ACARS is but one of many things underway here at Virtual UA. We’re currently working on content for our Pilot Shop and Discount Store, Pilot Recognition Programs i.e Best Landing Rate, Most Hours, etc., Awards to Compliment those Programs, A re-rejuvenated Events Department, and a complete sweep of our website to fix any existing bugs or to just add new content and make it as pilot friendly as possible.
We know you have choices in the flightsim community, so we offer our deepest, most heartfelt thank you to all of you help make our VA the best out there. We certainly wouldn’t be here doing all this if it weren’t for you, so THANK YOU.
Until next time,
Kind Regards,
VirtualUA Corporate Communications
Virtual United Airlines Staff Changes
Virtual United Airlines (virtualua.org) is excited to announce changes and improvements to our community in an effort to provide the best experience possible for our current members, and to share the Virtual United experience with non-members as well. Change is not always negative, and in our case, it’s a great thing. We believe change is making the appropriate decisions and alterations in order to improve and become better. We recognized that in order to lead the world of virtual aviation, we had to improve. That’s what we’re doing.
The following changes will be seen immediately:
Our Founder, Robert Sayles, has returned as CEO and will be involved in all day-to-day operations. His vision for our community is greatly needed and his leadership will take our community to new heights.
Michael Hendon has returned to the Management Team as COO. Michael has had much experience in the virtual airline community and with Virtual United, and is eager to help lead these changes and facilitate our progress.
These major management realignments, along with others, such as the hiring of an events director and creation of a new communications and marketing department, are much needed improvements. Our community’s progress has already become evident and we’re excited about the future.
We’d also like to announce our ACARS Beta Testing program. A Beta team such as this has never existed at Virtual United as it will allow community members to give direct feedback to our ACARS Manager, Keith Lovell, as he perfects vuACARS 3.0 so that, upon its release, it meets the standards of our members. A common theme within Virtual United is providing the best experience for our members, and our ACARS Beta Testing program is consistent with that theme.
Lastly, we’ve hired a Director of Events, Eric Kollat. Mr. Kollat has been Continue reading
Virtual United Airlines (virtualua.org) Jan 2014 Press Release
Welcome to 2014 here at Virtual United! We have some big news to start you off with so let’s get started!
The first thing you probably noticed is our new logo. Yes, we are still the same www.virtualua.org but we decided to undergo a new corporate rebranding to provide a more modern and sophisticated look. This new logo comes with several alternate versions for publications and forum signatures so stay tuned. We also created several new features for our members. These include a brand new forums, a pilot welcome package with desktop wallpapers and FS splashscreens, and lots more on the way for the new year!
Speaking of development, we are starting off the year with a bang. In the coming weeks, we will release another promotional video as well as some videos in coordination with our awesome partners. Probably the largest item on the agenda is a new face for Virtual United. We will be starting the process of revamping our current site to make it more functional and even give our pilots some features never before seen at a virtual airline. Stay tuned for more!
So the question rises, why all of these new updates? Is it just a bunch of new year resolutions? Of course not! Today we would like to announce some BIG news. After several months of negotiations and hard work, we have received official recognition from United Airlines, Inc. What does this mean for you, our pilots? Well it means now we have more resources to continue providing what we have done in the past year, just expect a lot more of it! This will include: product giveaways, contests with great prizes, discounts to our partners’ websites, and maybe even a real world convention for all of Virtual United’s staff and members!
Now the numbers. We are getting down to business here at Virtual United and our numbers are Continue reading
Virtual United Airlines Press Release for November 2013
CHICAGO, IL – vUnited is in the final stretch of 2013 and we want to thank you for staying with us in the first operating year of the virtual community. It has been a busy fall for the virtual airline as we have launched several new programs including: weekly fly-in’s, charters, vUnited Executive Platinum, and our Go Forward Plan 2014. Let’s get started!
Our community appears to still be growing as we now have ~250 ACTIVE pilots and ~40 PIREPS per day. Just as a reminder this marks the half-way point to our 500 pilot cap so join now before we have to close the registration! We will also be launching a new recruitment campaign which will likely double transferable hours and a starting balance of 10,000+ vUnited Reward Points!
Our events department has been busy at work planning both major and minor events for our members. vUnited pilots can enjoy a wide range of weekly fly-in’s over the VATSIM network. The next major event for vUnited is Christmas in Chicago (December 15, 2013). Even if you are not a pilot, we invite you to come join us at O’Hare Airport that day for a chance to win several prizes from our generous partners. Sponsors will include: REX Game Studios, Aerosoft, Majestic Simulations, BluePrint Simulations & more!
Want the flexibility of creating your own charter flights and equally rewarding points program? With our Executive Platinum Rewards program, you can ‘purchase’ your own flights through our pilot shop. Say you want to fly your new PMDG 777 from two city pairs not in Continue reading
Virtual United Airlines Press Release for August 2013
It continues to amaze us just how much vUnited is taking off this summer! We have much to report on from our operations department to community affairs, and everywhere in between. For starters, we would like to invite you to come and follow us on our several social media outlets or even send in an application and join the community’s fastest growing virtual airline! It is safe to say vUnited Virtual Airlines is firmly planted into the ground now as we approach 5 months of operation. We continue to see positive growth and look forward to the future. Since opening, we have achieved the following:
Website:
471 Pilots
4786 Flights
15348 Hours
Social Media:
2757 Facebook Likes
140 Twitter Followers
41 Instagram Followers – For our hipster members 
26 YouTube Subscribers
With our statistics out of the way, we would like to take a look at our Continue reading
Virtual United Airlines Press Release for July 2013
This quarter was surely a growing phase for vUnited. We are proud to announce several improvements and additions to our strong platform ranging from an improved website to professional staff training.
We are pleased to show you the progress of the airline so let’s get started! As of now, it is safe to say we are one of the fastest growing virtual airlines in the community. Since opening three months ago, we have achieved the following in terms of members/followers:
-370 Pilots
-2889 PIREPS
-2707 Likes on Facebook
-8669 Hours flown
vUnited is also proud and thankful for our many partners which provide the support needed to keep our community running smoothly. This quarter, we rolled out several new partnerships and are continuing to reach further into the community
Our new website and ACARS client have put us one step ahead of the competitors in the community. vUnited 2.0 brings our members an innovative and original platform to make virtual aviation all the more fun and exciting! Our technology team continues to make minor updates to optimize all of our members’ experiences.
This quarter, vUnited held its second pilot survey and the results yielded much improvement. We received over 40 responses to the survey and were able to draw some conclusions on where and how we can make their experience more enjoyable. Most users are happy with the light and easy-to-use platform of v2 and are satisfied with customer service and communication. (More details below)
Looking forward to the next quarter, vUnited has even more in Continue reading
