BAVirtual Policy

Membership

Organisation Principles

BAVirtual is an online virtual airline community created for flight simulation enthusiasts. We aim to create an environment where members can enjoy their hobby, learn more about airline operating procedures and have access to airline schedules. Members can track their activity using a logbook and engage with other members on our forum and discord server. To ensure the smooth running of the community members are required to follow BAVirtual Policy which outlines the expectation of members.

BAVirtual does not engage in constant review and policing of members - if a problem or disagreement arises between members they should in the first instance always try to resolve this between themselves. If this cannot be done the matter can be raised to the Membership Department.

Membership is not a right; BAVirtual is run and administered by the Board of Directors for the benefit of the majority of members. Decisions by the Board of Directors on any matter are final.

Recruitment

Only a Windows 10 or Windows 11 operating system running at least one of the following flight simulation applications are supported.

1. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.
2. Prepar3D (v3-5).
3. X-Plane (v10-12).

On the date of application, applicants must be 16 years of age or over.

Applicants must provide the following details in their application.

• Full name.
• A valid e-mail address.
• Date of birth.
• Active VATSIM CID number.

The Membership Department reserve the right to request identification be provided as part of the application process where a discrepancy or doubt exists over the information provided.

Applicants must provide a summary that evidences their desire to join BAVirtual and understand its overall aims and values; the Membership Department reserves the right to reject applications where the threshold for acceptance is not met.

English is the primary language used for communication within BAVirtual.

An examination must be successfully completed during the recruitment process.

Applicants who fail the entry examination may re-take it once, after 48 hours has elapsed from the unsuccessful attempt.

In the event an applicant fails the examination twice on the same application, or allows an examination to expire, the process will terminate. The unsuccessful applicant must not re-apply until 14 days have elapsed from the time of the second examination failure/expiry.

New members will join one of the following fleets.

• Airbus
• Boeing
• Euroflyer
• CityFlyer

Concurrent membership of BAVirtual and other virtual airlines that model themselves on the operations of British Airways is not permitted.

Records

Members are required to maintain their account details ensuring all details remain correct.

Members may hold only one account, irrespective of its status. Returning members must apply for re-activation of their existing account via the support ticket system at https://support.bavirtual.co.uk/.

Members will be allocated a BAW identification number (BAWxxxx) upon registration.

The Membership Department may administratively suspend accounts indefinitely where the accuracy or completeness of the submitted personal details is in doubt, until satisfied that the details held in the database comply with this policy.

Changes to Personal Details

Changes to personal details such as the name of a member must be requested via the support ticket system at https://support.bavirtual.co.uk/.

A maximum of one change to forename and surname is permitted per calendar year.

Activity Requirements

New and Returning Members

New accounts will be closed unless at least one PIREP is filed within 14 days of a successful entrance exam.

If a new member does not file at least one accepted PIREP within this prescribed period, the account will be de-activated. Re-activation will be in line with the policy for returning members.

Returning members must file an accepted PIREP within 31 days of re-activation or their account will be automatically de-activated.

Full Members

Any member unable to fly for a period of 31 days or more must place themselves on leave to avoid having their account de-activated. If they are not able to do this, the member should raise this immediately via the support ticket system at https://support.bavirtual.co.uk/.

The standard leave allowance is 90 days each calendar year, starting 1st January.

Members who are not on leave and have not flown for more than 31 days will be regarded as inactive and their account de-activated. Notification of this will be sent to their registered e-mail address.

The Director of Membership may waive the activity requirements by exception and on a case-by-case basis, for example, in the event of a significant illness. This will be kept under regular review and must not exceed a continuous period of inactivity of 12 months. The general expectation is that members should comply with the activity requirements.

Members with a de-activated account may apply for its re-activation by raising a ticket on the support ticket system at https://support.bavirtual.co.uk/. This will be considered on the basis of the number of times the account has been re-activated as per the guidance in the table below. In exceptional circumstances these requirements can be waived by the Membership Department.

Re-activation Number	Time to have Elapsed from De-Activation
1	30 Days
2	60 Days
3+	90 Days

Captains who request re-activation of their account after one year of inactivity, or where it is their third request for re-activation, will be demoted to the rank of Senior First Officer.

Following a continuous period of activity of two calendar years, should a member become inactive and their account de-activated, any request for re-activation shall be considered as if it were their first re-activation.

Hour Cap

Members may log up to 135 duty hours within a rolling 30 day period.

Members who hold the rank of Captain may waive this hour cap for their account.

Discipline

Conduct

Conduct requirements apply to:

• All BAVirtual resources, including but not limited to:
  • The website and forum.
  • The Discord server.
  • Social media accounts or pages.
  • In-person events and meetings connected with BAVirtual.
• Places where management reasonably believes that BAVirtual may be brought into disrepute.
• Circumstances that occur in other places, but where management reasonably believe there is a connection to membership with BAVirtual, including but not limited to instances of harassment or bullying.

General requirements

Members must always be courteous and polite to others.

Members must maintain appropriate standards of professionalism such not to bring the organisation into disrepute.

Members must not upload or share:

• Pornographic links or material of any kind.
• References or links to pirated software.
• Information that is political in nature.
• Comments or remarks made to intentionally offend, but especially, though not limited to, those made in the context of religious preferences, sexual orientation and preferences, gender, local customs and race.
• Messages that are intended to be disruptive, slanderous, libelous or defamatory, or harass.
• Content that could reasonably be considered as an advertisement for another virtual airline.
• Training material, without prior management approval.

BAVirtual respects the intelectual property of others and requires members to do the same. BAVirtual responds to notices of alleged copyright infingement as laid out in our DMCA Policy.

Members must take all reasonable steps to ascertain the answer to questions they may have using the resources available, prior to asking for help from others. This should include, at a minimum, the BAVirtual Frequently Asked Questions repository on the forum.

While flying:

• Members are expected to conduct their flights in a reasonably realistic way and in accordance with normal aviation practices including, but not limited to, flight and fuel planning, gate usage and aircraft operation as per BAVirtual Flying Standards. The Minimum Standard of Flying page should be referred to: https://docs.bavirtual.co.uk/docs/policies/flyingstandards
• Members using online networks (e.g. VATSIM) must adhere to the rules imposed by those organisations.
• Time acceleration is not permitted.

Members must take all reasonable steps to follow the published rules for each BAVirtual event, including but not limited to:

• Adhering to event slot times.
• Not creating an artificial advantage over others in competitions.
• Flying to and from specified airports in approved aircraft types.
• Honouring booked slots.

Disciplinary Process

Directors, Chief Pilots and Membership Managers (authorised persons) are empowered to initiate investigations and disciplinary action against members if they suspect that the terms of this policy have been breached by another member of BAVirtual. Those persons authorised by this policy to take action must endeavour to minimise potential conflicts of interest and preserve the integrity of the process.

Other Managers are entitled to advise members of the rules and proper conduct, and at their discretion may refer issues to authorised persons for review and action, if the authorised person deems appropriate.

Editorial review of content, such as, but not limited to, the editing, removal, or closure of posts and removal from voice channels on BAVirtual media is not considered a disciplinary action in its own right, and may be undertaken by any Management representative who has been granted access for those purposes.

Action may be informal, or formal.

Informal action may be taken where it is judged that the breach is minor or where formal action may not be appropriate and does not require the direct involvement of the Membership Department.

Formal action may be taken where the breach is major, or where several breaches over a period occurred. All cases of formal action require the involvement of the Membership Department.

On every occasion informal, or formal action is initiated, the initiator must notify the member via their registered e-mail address. Typically this will be completed either automatically via the BAVMS system, or manually via the support ticket system for traceability.

All disciplinary action must be recorded on the member's record.

When informal action is taken, it may result in any of the following outcomes:

• Cancellation, in light of new information.
• A warning.
• Disconnection from the Discord server.
• Having access to the BAVMS, the forum, Discord server, and/or other media modified or temporarily suspended for up to seven days.
• Removal of a PIREP if relevant to the breach.

When formal action is taken, it may result in the following outcomes:

• Cancellation, in light of new information.
• A warning.
• Modification or removal of access to any BAVirtual.co.uk systems, accounts or groups for any period of time, including permanently.
• Demotion to any rank.
• Loss of seniority number.
• Removal of hours and/or PIREPs.
• Removal from a fleet, for example, Concorde.
• For First Officers and Senior First Officers, or in the case of a Captain demoted to First Officer or Senior First Officer, categorisation as Category C for a specified minimum length of time.

The process of formal action against a member is as follows:

• The authorised person shall conduct an investigation (the investigator) in the first instance to establish the facts. This may involve speaking to the member who may have breached this policy, and any other person who may have relevant information.
• If the investigator believes that temporary suspension of the member suspected of the breach is required to preserve the integrity and/or security of BAVirtual, they are authorised to make a suspension of up to 21 days.
• When the investigation is complete, or within seven days of a temporary suspension being applied, the result of the investigation must be logged within the support ticket system.

A member of the Membership Department shall either:

• Personally take the case, unless this presents a conflict of interest.
• Allocate the case to another authorised person in this policy to take disciplinary action. The authorised person must be of the same staff rank as the investigator, or higher.

The authorised person conducting the review (the independent reviewer) must conduct an independent review of the following, and may make requests for further information from any party related to:

• Which part of the policy is alleged to have been breached.
• The strength of the evidence that supports the allegation.
• The prior disciplinary history of the member alleged of breaching the policy.
• That due process has been followed.

The independent reviewer shall then determine and document the outcome within 14 days of a temporary suspension being applied, and any penalties to be applied, communicating it typically via the support ticket system to:

• The member is subject to disciplinary action via their registered e-mail address.
• The authorised person who initiated the disciplinary action.

Members who are subject to formal disciplinary action are entitled to make an appeal against the outcome of the final review.

Appeals must be made by the member within seven days of being notified of the outcome, and must be made by raising a ticket on the support ticket system.

The Chief Executive Officer shall hear all appeals except those where the Chief Executive Officer has prior involvement as investigator or independent reviewer. In such cases, the Membership Department shall allocate the appeal to another member of the Board of Directors.

The Chief Executive Officer or other nominated person hearing the appeal is entitled to request any further information as may be required to confirm if the outcome is sound. At their sole discretion the outcome may be upheld, modified to a reduced penalty, or overturned.

The person hearing the appeal shall document the outcome, and after ratification by the Board of Directors (where applicable) communicate it via the support ticket system to:

• The member subject to disciplinary action.
• The initiator of the disciplinary action.
• The independent reviewer of the disciplinary action.

All outcomes that after final review have penalties lasting longer than 12 months will be automatically treated as if an appeal had been made, and require a vote by the Board of Directors for it to be upheld.

• The final review must have been conducted first.
• The outcome of the appeal and relevant information must be transmitted to the Board of Directors prior to the next scheduled formal Board meeting and a corresponding item added to the agenda.
• A majority of the Board must vote to uphold the penalty, if no majority exists, the member shall be immediately restored to full member status.

If at any stage of the formal disciplinary process the member subject to action requests their account to be closed, or details to be deleted from BAVirtual, we reserve the indefinite right to refuse any request to re-activate their account or accept any new applications to create another account.

Flight Operations

Rank Structure and Seniority

The following ranks are utilised by BAVirtual:

• First Officer (FO) - two epaulette stripes.
• Senior First Officer (SFO) - three epaulette stripes.
• Captain (CPT) - four epaulette stripes.

Rank Allocation and Seniority

Without exception, on registration all new members will be allocated the rank of First Officer.

Promotion

Members will be automatically promoted to the rank of Senior First Officer when the following criteria are met:

• Twelve continuous months as an active member.
• 150 flying hours have been logged.

Promotion takes places on the first PIREP accepted after the hours and tenure are met.

Promotion to Captain is dependent on the following criteria being met:

• Twelve continuous months as an active member.
• 150 flying hours have been logged.
• 100 sectors have been flown.
• Allocation of Category A status.
• The Command Course has been passed.

Promotion takes place manually after the command check is completed.

All members will be categorised as follows:

• Category A: Meets all the requirements for promotion to Captain, subject to completion of the command course.
• Category B: Has not yet met the criteria for promotion to Captain.
• Category C: Is unsuitable for promotion to Captain for disciplinary or other reasons.

Categorisation shall be managed by the Chief Pilot responsible for the member's allocated fleet. All new members are automatically allocated to Category B.

Chief Pilots are empowered to allocate First Officers and Senior First Officers to and from Category C. This must be justified and provided in writing to:

• The member.
• The Director of Flight Operations.

Members may appeal the allocation of Category C to the Training Director whose decision shall be final. The outcome of the appeal must be provided in writing to:

• The member.
• The Chief Pilot.

Experience points are accrued by members for each PIREP that is filed, based on various criteria including proportion of the flight flown online VATSIM and length of time on-duty. Experience points are passive and do not directly contribute to a member's progression through each rank.

Administrative Fleets

Each Chief Pilot is responsible for members allocated to their respective fleet. This allocation is indicated within each member's user profile.

Each member's fleet represents their administrative team and the corresponding Chief Pilot their line manager.

Permitted Aircraft Types

BAVirtual is primarily concerned with the operations of the real world airline British Airways. Other schedules are made available as secondary choices to provide members with additional points of interest. Permitted aircraft types are associated with these schedules.

Some aircraft may be substituted with others in the mainline fleet on mainline scheduled flights. These are controlled via the BAVMS website.

The Mainline Permitted Aircraft Types comprise the following aircraft, when flown in a British Airways livery on a corresponding scheduled flight:

• Airbus A319.
• Airbus A320.
• Airbus A320neo.
• Airbus A321.
• Airbus A321neo.
• Airbus A350-1000.
• Airbus A380-800.
• Boeing 777-200ER.
• Boeing 777-300ER.
• Boeing 787-8.
• Boeing 787-9.
• Boeing 787-10.
• Embraer E190.

Some Mainline Permitted Aircraft Types may be substituted with other similar aircraft, these are limited to the:

• Airbus A350-900 in place of the Airbus A350-1000
• The Embraer E195 in place of the Embraer E190.

The Historic types comprise the following aircraft, when flown in a British Airways, BOAC, or BEA livery (as applicable):

• ATR 72-300.
• Avro RJ85
• Avro RJ100
• BAe 146-100.
• BAe 146-200.
• BAe 146-300.
• BAC 1-11.
• BAC/Aerospatiale Concorde.
• Boeing 707-320.
• Boeing 737-200.
• Boeing 737-300.
• Boeing 737-400.
• Boeing 747-100.
• Boeing 747-200.
• Boeing 747-400.
• Boeing 757-200.
• Boeing 767-300.
• de Havilland Comet 4.
• de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter.
• Hawker Siddeley Trident.
• Lockheed L1011 TriStar.
• McDonnell Douglas DC-10.
• Vickers VC10.

In addition, the Historic types also comprises the following two aircraft previously operated under the BA Cargo Subsiduary.

• Global Supply System B747-400F.
• Global Supply System B747-8F.

With the exception of the BAC/Aerospatiale Concorde, members may fly any aircraft type that is associated with the relevant scheduled flight in the BAVMS database.

The BAC/Aerospatiale Concorde is restricted to members who have met competency standards controlled by the Flight Operations Department.

Management

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors (BoD) is the most senior management group within BAVirtual, and is collectively responsible for:

• Financing the organisation.
• Strategic leadership and delivery of a professional simulation of airline operations based on the real world airline British Airways.
• Upholding our reputation and values.

It consists of Directors, each of whom are responsible for a specific operational area.

Position	Holder	Responsibiliites
Chief Executive Officer	Liam Tallis	Responsible for overall vision, strategy and day-to-day running of the Board of Directors and the VA in general, and the treasurer responsible for monitoring and maintaining the BAV bank account.
Director of Flight Operations	Lucas Hanman	Responsible for all fleet operational and flight technical matters; this individual serves as the overall Chief Pilot.
Director of Flight Scheduling	Iain Sealey	Responsible for all scheduling, route and fleet utilisation matters.
Director of Training	John Pettit	Responsible for all flight training matters, and the VATSIM ATO CFI post holder.
Director of Membership	Callum McLoughlin	Responsible for oversight of all recruitment and membership queries.
Director of Technical	Mustafa Hajjar	Responsible for overseeing and driving current and future development of all software, web, server hardware and other technical resources.
Director of Events & Marketing	Dave Catt	Responsible for oversight and implementation of a comprehensive programme of events and encouraging community participation, and for all external communications and publicity.
Director of Merlin Development	Ian Abel	Responsible for maintaining the BAV ACARS/Merlin software.

The Chief Executive Officer is responsible for handling any complaints made regarding Directors, and may remove Directors from their roles at their sole discretion.

The Chief Executive Officer may be removed by a two-thirds majority vote of all other serving Directors.

The appointment process for new Directors may include a recruitment process open to all members of BAVirtual, however this is not always possible or appropriate dependant on the role. It is expected that prospective Directors already serve in some capacity as Managers.

The appointment process for new Directors must include:

• A vote by the Board of Directors, where the candidate with a simple majority of votes is deemed to be the successful candidate.

The Board of Directors must meet at least once per Quarter, and:

• An agenda must be published at least seven days before the day of the meeting.
• The minutes of the meeting, any actions raised, and the names of those who attended must be documented.

A simple majority of serving Directors must be present for a quorum to be reached.

Other Staff

Staff are defined as members who hold an official status that permit them to make decisions or contribute to the operations of BAVirtual, whereas Management are defined as those who hold significant decision-making responsibility for delivering visibly and owning processes and outcomes, and have been granted Management status by the relevant departmental Director.

Staff positions may be created and filled if certain criteria (the criteria) are met, namely:

• Each staff member's activity should be directly experienced by members and be visible to them.
• Staff positions should be created only when:
• New requirements are identified and cannot be fulfilled by existing staff, or
• There is too much demand on a particular function and active staff are at capacity.
• Staff positions should be created at the lowest practicable level in the organisation.

Directors are responsible for identifying and filling staff positions within their Department, and may proceed with recruitment campaigns subject to no-objection by the Chief Executive Officer who must confirm that the criteria are met.

Management position vacancies should normally be filled following a recruitment process open to all members of BAVirtual.

All staff roles must have accompanying objectives against which performance must be periodically reviewed. A reasonable and pragmatic approach towards this is required given the volunteer status of all roles at BAVirtual, however it is expected that persons unable to fulfil the objectives of the role vacate the position such that another member can contribute to the organisation's operations and development. The outcome of each review must be submitted by the responsible Director to the Chief Executive Officer.

Staff Conduct

All staff are responsible for closely following the terms of this Policy, and are held to a more stringent standard of conduct.

Management are expected to be critical friends to BAVirtual and provide appropriate challenge and comment on the organisation's operation via official Management communication channels.

All staff are expected to take note of, and comply with the Data Protection and Handling Policy.

Revision History

Rev. No	Date Entered	Revision History
1.0	August 2021	BAVirtual Policy superseded the BAVirtual SOP with a full rewrite, and reflects the new rank structure.
1.1	January 2022	Minor typographical corrections and clarifications throughout.
1.2	June 2023	Updates to sim support, addition of EuroFlyer fleet, permitted aircraft type updates and addition of life memberships. ∼Changes are represented by this colour text.∼
1.3	January 2024	Moved to new format, update to board positions, conduct rules and Organisation Principles added
1.31	January 2024	Typographical updates. Membership rules clarified. A list of approved Life Members introduced
1.32	February 2024	Further typographical updates. Recruitment process clarification. BoD roles tabulated with post holders. Removal of life membership as no longer required due to earlier changes to this policy.
1.33	March 2024	Further typographical updates, and alignment of wording for consistency.
1.34	April 2024	Clarification of cooling off period for expired exams.
1.35	May 2024	Clarification on DMCA & members conduct
1.36	June 2024	Update to reflect GSS Cargo Operations. Removal of Concorde as a mainline fleet. Introduction of Euroflyer as a fleet. Removal of [email protected] e-mail address and adoption of the support ticket system for that purpose.
1.37	July 2024	Wording corrections to historic types
1.38	August 2024	Substitution rules amended. Wording changes to disciplinary process.
1.39	November 2024	English stated as the primary language at BAVirtual. Update to BoD table. Additional clarification of rules regarding professional behaviours.