I rather have 10 active pilots on a roster instead of having 1000 inactive pilots on a roster.
Answers are published as the CEO wrote them, spelling included.
About the CEO
Can you tell us a bit about yourself? For example; how old you are, what your background with flying in general is and what brought you to creating your own Virtual Airline.
I am 37 yrs old flying flight sim since FS 4.1 back in 1994. I have been affiliated with many VA’s over the years and I finally decided to open up a VA with few rules and a number 1 goal of having fun doing something that we all love and that my friend is flying!
How it started
When did you start your Virtual Airline?
I opened up Universal Air Alliance (FlyUAA) back in Jan 2016.
Success
Do you consider your Virtual Airline successful?
We are very successful in just a few months of opening. I have a pilot by the name of Hal Butts that is known in the VA world has found his home here at FlyUAA and with just only 40 pilots we have flown over 2000hrs in couple months.
Best moment
What is your most interesting experience with your Virtual Airline, what has happened that makes you think so?
We have a unique concept of having different divisions and surprisingly our Navy division has more attention than any other division.
Hard times
Did you have any bad experiences with your Virtual Airline?
Yes, I had the wrong management team in place at first and had to get rid of some people which was the best thing we could have done.
Pilots coming and going
What do you think of your Virtual Airline’s flow of new and leaving VA pilots? Is there something you do to attract more pilots? And why do you think some pilots leave your Virtual Airline?
We offer different tours and awards that attracts new pilots and for the most part we attain a 90% retention rate but we do have a couple pilots leave due to lack of in-activity in flying on their part and they just wanted to join to be a name on the roster. From day one we said, “I rather have 10 active pilots on a roster instead of having 1000 inactive pilots on a roster.”
Fleet and liveries
What types of planes does your Virtual Airline use and do you have all the custom liveries available for your VA?
We offer any aircraft our pilots have in their inventory for this we do not have a fleets page on our website but we currently fly with over 75 different aircraft and that number is growing every day. If a pilot makes a request for an aircraft, then we make this happen.
Online networks
Does your VA fly on a network? If so, what do you think about it? Do you feel it supplements the general flying experience, what do you think of the network in general and is it required for your pilots to fly on this network?
We have pilots fly on VATSIM but it is not required for our VA. VATSIM is a good network to simulate real world aviation and ATC scenarios.
Flight tracking
Do you use any flight tracking software? If so, which one, and are you happy about the service it provides? Would you like to improve it for example?
We currently use Smartcars, Kacars, FS Passanger, Xacars to track flights. We use all of these flight trackers to accommodate all of our pilot’s basic needs. We realize that not all pilots have the same software they are using.
Developer offers
Do you make use of the offers some developers / distributors have for Virtual Airlines? Do you think these developers / distributors have good offers? And does it fit your Virtual Airline policy?
We do have multiple partnerships with various vendors and developers. This aids us in testing the latest and greatest aviation products.
Website
Does your Virtual Airline have a custom made internet web page or do you use, for example, PHPVMS and equivalents? Are you happy about your VA’s web page?
We use PHPVMS but we have designed a one of a kind website that is complex and has multiple add-on modules with some cool features such as an airmail system so we can communicate with all our pilots without them leaving the main website to check messages and other important information.
The year ahead
And lastly, what are your expectations for your Virtual Airline in the coming twelve months?
We will become a VATSIM partner VA and will continue to grow toward our goal of 500 pilots and will be the #1 VA out there to meet all the needs with the pilot in mind.
The original questionnaire
This is the questionnaire as the CEO sent it to us, in PDF.
