Changelist for v1.3

• Parking brake must be set for flight tracking to start
• Comments are now required if an event flight is checked
• Any comment that is typed in before hitting submit that is still in the input buffer will be automatically added when hitting submit, no longer requiring the pilot to hit the Comment button to save it before submitting the pirep
• Additional fuel planning data is being transmitted for each flight

Please be sure to update as soon as possible. As of March 31st ACARS v1.3 will be the only supported version of ACARS.

With Tim’s departure we are officially opening the application process for those interested in applying to be a MetroAir Hub Manager. The successful candidate will be responsible for processing pilot pireps and acting as the first level of support for hub pilots. Hub Managers also welcome new pilots to their hub among other duties.

Being a hub manager is a position that requires time, commitment and dedication to our hobby (not to mention a passion for MetroAir!). MetroAir Hub Managers are expected to establish a good rapport with the pilot base and also contribute to management discussions.

Requirements

• One (1) month or more in active flight time with MetroAir
• One (1) month or more in active forum use at MetroAir
• Able to send and receive emails pertaining to MetroAir business at least once every 36 hours.
• Able to process outstanding pireps at least once every 36 hours
• Ability to work well in a team
• Must have excellent people and communication skills
• Ability to participate in staff meetings on Teamspeak. [General staff meetings are held monthly (Sun PM). Personnel department meetings will be held bi-weekly (TBD).]
• A minimum of 5 hours per week to dedicate to roles and responsibilities at MetroAir (Will vary from week to week) This includes spending time in TeamSpeak interacting with management and pilots.
• Must have a Vatsim ID and have the ability to make flights online.
• Drive to see MetroAir grow and prosper
• Make no less than 4 flights per month

To Apply

If you would like to apply to be the new Ontario Hub Manager, please answer the following questions and send an email with “Application: ONT Hub Manager” in the subject line to:

1. Name
2. How long have you been a pilot at MetroAir? If you have been rehired, indicate time since your latest rehire date.
3. Have you ever been terminated from MetroAir Virtual due to disciplinary reasons or due to failure to abide to MetroAir policies? If so, indicate what the nature of your termination.
4. How much time per week do you have to allocate to MetroAir responsibilities?
5. How many flights have you made in the last 30 days for MetroAir? How many of these flights were on the Vatsim network?
6. What timezone are you in?
7. Do you use Skype? If so, what is your username.
8. What interests you about the position?
9. What are your expectations of the position?
10. Why do you feel you would be a good candidate for the position?
11. What direct experience do you have that’s related to the position?
12. What makes you stand out from other candidates?
13. How often are you on the MetroAir TeamSpeak server?
14. What are some of your hobbies outside of MetroAir?

Feel free to add any additional comments or information that you think is important when your application is reviewed.

Good luck! This application process will end officially on February 27th, 2012 at 6:00PM CST, however the position may be announced early if the right applicant applies. If you genuinely love helping your fellow pilot and would like to be part of our management team don’t waste another second! This position is not going to remain open for long.

One of the goals set forth for this year was to have the entire staff make better use of the blog and make it more engaging for you, our pilots. Instead of strictly being a broadcast medium to disseminate news, we’d like to add some fresh new content; new perspectives from staff where you’ll learn more about them on an individual level or figure out what a hub manager really does. Occasionally you may see an article from a guest author; Have you ever wondered what they do with all of those retired aircraft sitting in the desert? Are you drinking out of a soda can today that was made from the plane you flew yesterday?

Enough daydreaming and back to the task of discussing strategic planning. In the past you could say that sometimes we flew by the seat of our pants. In the past year we have tried to formalize pieces of our decision making processes so that our decisions and plans weren’t as erratic as they were when MetroAir started back in 2006. As an example, the Operations and Executive team was very thorough when we started considering a transfer from Washington Dulles to Baltimore. All aspects of the airline were considered before making the move including personnel and the impact on pilots, to the availability of scenery, to the finest details like delay statistics at the airports and how it compared to other possible locations. In large part due to the research and planning, this ended up being one of the smoothest launches we have had to date and we want to keep that momentum going.

In our last strategic planning meeting we covered a few different areas and defined a couple of primary goals to try to give a mission and theme to our first quarter; One of those goals is training. We want to expand our training offerings. Ken Adams has been on staff for a little over a year and he and his team are finally wrapping some things up. You’ll get to see some guides on Weather and Reading Charts amongst some other informative resources that they have planned. Our training department has some ambitious goals for the rest of the year so you’ll want to keep your ears open and maybe try to pry for gossip from one of the guys in the training department.

Not only is MetroAir focused on pilot training, but we are looking inward and trying to develop some better staff training as well. We had a successful test program of cross-training the staff. Sean took a seat at William’s desk, or at least attempted to despite all the paperwork and clutter, and learned a little more about how Operations works while William dashed through Sean’s stack of pireps to process to see what kind of challenges Sean sees on a daily basis. Since both guys seemed to enjoy it, we are opening it to other staff members and will be doing it more regularly; it helps everyone on staff better understand another staff member’s responsibilities and roles while helping to improve the staff morale since we are a little more aware of some of the unique challenges each staff position has. Another opportunity for staff training appeared when our Hub Managers participated in a pirep processing exercise to review pireps as a team to better define common problems with pireps and to decide how to handle some situations.

Planning for the future also becomes a large part of strategic planning. Operations planning can be a challenging and daunting task; It’s always a look to see if we need more aircraft, a new fleet type to better service some routes, starting service to a new city or swapping to use a different airport that might better serve our international passengers. To that end, the exec team was tasked with producing a couple of SWOT analyses to fully understand what we may potentially be getting ourselves in for and so that we can make better decisions for potential changes that may appear in the coming year.

Are you exhausted yet? That’s was a really long post to say that MetroAir is on the move; we’re always on the move trying to find the next big thing to keep ourselves challenged and keep the airline fresh for both our veteran and new pilots alike. Sometime we fail but we’re always trying to improve. It’s a safe bet to say that the strategic planning will continue in the months to come. Sometimes you may even see some of the information leak out. If you were paying attention, you’re already one step ahead of everyone else. Speaking of paying attention – if you’re one of the first five  pilots to read this post, I’ll give you 50 MetroMiles if you use the Contact Us form with the Corporate/Events subject and can state the names of the two staff members who participated in a cross-training test program.

It’s a great time to be a MetroAir pilot. Some may argue it’s an even better time to be a MetroAir staff member. Our staff is really great, always thinking and really do the best they can to make the experience even better for our pilots. They endure a lot as volunteers and really step up to the plate. Any company in the real world would wish to have as good of a team as the staff at MetroAir. I wish I could give them a paycheck (or direct deposit since it’s cheaper), give them a vacation in the Hawaiian islands or send them backpacking through Europe. Instead I can just thank them and encourage the pilots to thank them for all that they do.

Oh, and if you are wondering what kind of posts staff will be writing about in the future I heard you may see some of the following topics:

• Calculating flight time and getting feedback on routes and connections
• The history of being a MetroAir staff member and what it has meant
• and one of my favorites, “Blurring the lines of a virtual airline” with some stories about applications we have received by people looking for a real job and some potential customers looking for a charter flight.

After many years of dedicated service to the Ops department, Mike Adamo has now stepped down from his position of Charter Director due to increased work responsibilities. He will however be staying on as a pilot and may well return to staff in the future. As Mike has stepped down we are pleased to announce that Alex Norgaard has been promoted to the position of Director of Charter Operations. With Alex’s promotion this now leaves a vacancy within the Ops team.

Thinking about joining MetroAir staff? Have you been wondering how else you can contribute to the airline? If so, please consider applying. MetroAir is looking for a new Director of Aircraft Operations.

Job Description
1. Develop ferry schedule for new and existing aircraft.
2. Maintain aircraft in the Operations panel to ensure ferry flights can be flown by pilots at the appropriate times.
3. Continue the maintenance schedule and review aircraft cycles and hours to ensure aircraft are receiving the proper maintenance checks.
4. Work with the entire scheduling department to ensure there are no conflicts with aircraft.
5. Learn the basics of scheduling and operations and be able to assist the scheduling department with other Operational needs as they arise.
6. While the initial focus will be on generating ferry schedules and maintaining related flights, additional scheduling duties will be required such as working with backend systems to create accurate reports for individual aircraft and airport gate slots.
7. Assist in the maintenance of scheduled and seasonal scheduled service.

Requirements

• Pilot at MetroAir Virtual for a minimum of one month on or before March 20th, 2012
• Ability to work well in a team
• Ability to communicate effectively with the entire staff
• Ability to participate in staff meetings on Teamspeak. [General staff meetings are held monthly (Sun PM). Operations department meetings are held weekly (Tue PM).]
• A minimum of 5 hours a week to dedicate to roles and responsibilities at MetroAir (Will vary from week to week)
• Ability to research airport information to determine basic information required for scheduling flights
• Ability to determine flight viability based on available aircraft, their ranges and market needs

To Apply
If you would like to apply to be the Director of Aircraft Operations, please answer the following questions and send an email to:

1. Name
2. How long have you been a pilot at MetroAir? If you have been rehired, indicate time since your latest rehire date.
3. Have you ever been terminated from MetroAir Virtual due to disciplinary reasons or due to failure to abide to MetroAir policies? If so, indicate what the nature of your termination.
4. How much time per week do you have to allocate to MetroAir responsibilities?
5. What timezone are you in?
6. Do you use Skype? If so, what is your username.
7. What interests you about the position?
8. What are your expectations of the position?
9. Why do you feel you would be a good candidate for the position?
10. What direct experience do you have that related to the position?
11. What makes you stand out from other candidates?
12. What are some of your hobbies outside of MetroAir?
13. How would you choose a new destination for MetroAir? List factors that you would consider and try to explain the reasoning.
14. What other steps do you think are needed when scheduling a flight?

Feel free to add any additional comments or information that you think is important when your application is reviewed.

The deadline for applying is Tuesday March 20th at 11:59am (noon) Eastern. If you have questions about the applications, feel free to send an email to the above mentioned email address for any additional clarification.

Today we welcome Cody Wilson back into the ranks of the MetroAir staff team. He is returning to his role as Director of Integrated Media. All things related to MetroAir graphics are his domain. What does this mean for you? Finally some new ads for the front page, a complete AI package containing the 777-300ER and E170, and some other secret stuff to be unveiled in the new future; Maybe even a new special livery.

Welcome back Cody! Don’t mind that overflowing inbox. We didn’t want to disrupt your office while you were away.

Please join the MetroAir staff in congratulating our newest pilot of the month, Andy Kirk!

William has been one of the hardest working and committed staff members at MetroAir since November 2010. Despite living in the UK, he manages to stay awake for staff meetings at 2:00am his time. William has also made an effort to understand all aspects of the airline; He recently shadowed our Baltimore Hub Manager, Sean Mullineaux, in an effort to understand the ins and outs of hub management. When he isn’t causing havoc in Denver Center on Vatsim, William serves as a Customer Service Agents for Jet2.com at the Blackpool airport. William would also like to think that he is why so many people participate on Teamspeak; He claims that when he became busy with work last March everyone vanished off Teamspeak and as he found more time in October everyone re-emerged. It sounds a bit ludicrous to me. Maybe his crumpets and tea have been drugged to make him a little delusional. In all seriousness though, William was an excellent addition to the staff over a year ago and I am certain he will fill his new shoes as VP of Operations quite well.

Please join me in welcoming William to the executive team and congratulating him on his promotion.

Best Landing Speeds:

Any pilot who lands below -50 feet per minute will get 5 MetroMiles. Any pilot who lands below -5 feet per minute will get 25 MetroMiles. Any pilot who lands at -1 feet per minute will get 50 MetroMiles.

Ontario:

Pond Hopping:

Each Flight that crosses an ocean will be awared 5 MetroMiles.

Kansas City:

Capture the Flag:

There will be one “Flag” (total of 3) for each aircraft type placed at a undisclosed KMCI Hub destination. 1 for Dash, 1 for E170, and 1 for the A320. 20 MetroMile bonus for finding the destination. (Pilot must complete the round trip to collect the points). Find all 3 and get an additional 40 MetroMiles for a possible total of 100 MetroMiles!

Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa. It is also famous for being the city that consists of the biggest human-made forest in the world.

Starting February 1st, the ferry flight will be available. On February 8th, the flight will go live.

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden. It is most known for its beautiful architecture.

Service to Stockholm will begin on February 3rd!

MetroAir will also begin service to Keflavik Airport also from Baltimore-Washington International with A319 Service.

In Iceland you can frequently see the Northern Lights from September through April on clear and crisp nights! You don’t want to miss out!

Service to Reykjavik, Iceland will begin on February 1st!