Atlantic Sun Airways :: Pilot Manual (revised 2012-10-08)
Joining

Becoming a pilot with Atlantic Sun Airways requires the following things:
1. A desire to fly under the most realistic and fun conditions possible. Enthusiasm to learn and hone your flying skills in a virtual flying environment.
2. Microsoft Flight Simulator FS2004 / FSX
3. Agreement to abide by the Terms of Service and Airline Policies. When pilots join they agree to abide  by these principles.

Airline Policies

To remain an active pilot, you must log at least one flight every 30 days, or you may be subject to removal from the rosters without notice. Any new pilot who signs up with Atlantic Sun Airways and does not file at least one Flight Report within their first 7 days of signing up may be subject to removal from the rosters.

If you need to go on a leave of absence for longer than 30 days, and wish not to be removed from the roster, you need to email your hub manager and request to be placed on "leave of absence" (LOA) status. A pilot who remains on LOA status for more than three months without emailing us and requesting additional LOA time may be subject to removal from the roster without notice.

Pilots who are found to be submitting fraudulent flight time will be removed from the roster immediately. The same policy goes for pilots who sign up on the roster using false or inappropriate information, or defacing the roster.

Pilots who act in such a way on our forums or towards others in emails that hurt others or make the flight simulation experience not enjoyable will be removed from the roster and not considered for re-hire.

Pilots who are found to have submitted fraudulent information of any kind on their employment application will be removed from the rosters immediately.

Any Atlantic Sun Airways employee who gives out vital airline information to other airlines or organizations, publicly defaces the airline, "bashes" the airline, or does anything that is considered by management a threat or deemed by management harmful to the airline will be removed from the rosters.

Transferring hours from previous virtual airlines

Pilots who join Atlantic Sun Airways will be given partial credit for previous flight hours flown with a recognized virtual airline. Recognition will be based on activity, time flown with former airline, and validity of excellences of airline policies. The amount of transferable hours will be decided on a case-by case basis and will not exceed 300 hours. These hours must be validated. If there is no website provided in the comments field of the application, there will be no extra hours rewarded.

Transferred hours will not be awarded to a pilot until he/she has filed a first flight report with Atlantic Sun Airways.

Operational Area (Hubs)

Atlantic Sun Airways currently has six main operational areas. They are: Denver, CO, Orlando, FL., Boston, MA, Amsterdam Schiphol, The Netherlands, Changi, Singapore and Rio de Janeiro (Galeao).

Flight Assignments / Flight Policy

Atlantic Sun Airways does not have flight assignments. However, there is a comprehensive flight schedule database from which pilots may choose a flight. Pilots must fly only routes which are on our flight schedules. The clock in FS has to be set to (roughly) meet the departure time given in the schedule. The use of "real time" is only allowed for online flights on Vatsim or IVAO.

Pilots are not permitted to fly routes or flights that are above their rank category. i.e.: a Trainee or Second Officer (both category 'A' pilots) are only permitted to fly category 'A' flights. Flight Reports filed for flights for any other category will be rejected without consideration. However, a category 'C' pilot can fly all category (A, B, C) flights.

It is mandatory to use the equipment (aircraft) on your flight as is specified for that specific flight on the flight schedules. No alternate aircraft may be substituted unless the schedules say otherwise or the specific aircraft is not available for your flight simulator.

The first flight after joining must be from the own hub airport and must end up at their hub airport all with no more than 12 flights in between. Pilots are still allowed to fly routes not associated with their hub airport, but they always have to take off from where their last flight ended and they must eventually reach their hub after a maximum of 12 flights. It is possible to connect flights from different airports in the same general locality. These airports are: KLAX/KBUR/KLGB/KONT, KSFO/KOAK/KSJC, KIAH/KHOU, KORD/KMDW, KJFK/KLGA/KEWR, KIAD/KDCA, KMIA/KFLL, EGLL/EGKK/EGLC/EGGW, EDDK/EDDL/EDLW, EDDB/EDDT, LIMC/LIML/LIME, OMDB/OMAA, RKSI/RKSS, WMKK/WMSA, YPPH/YPJT, YMML/YMEN, YSSY/YSBK

Example (using the 12-flight maximum, where KBOS is the hub):
1. KBOS -> KDEN
2. KDEN -> KLAX
3. KLAX -> PHNL
4. PHNL -> PHTO
5. PHTO -> PHOG
6. PHOG -> PHNL
7. PHNL -> KSFO
8. KSFO -> KMCO
9. KMCO -> KORD
10. KMDW -> KDEN
11. KDEN -> KATL
12. KATL -> KBOS

Under certain circumstances, it is permissible to deadhead to a different location. However, deadhead-flights require prior confirmation by your hub manager.

Logging Flight Time

Pilots may start clocking their flight time from the moment they turn their engines on at the gate, and they should stop clocking their time at the moment they turn their engines off at the gate. That includes all taxing time and all flight time.

Flight Reports for flights that didn't arrive at the planned destination airport cannot be filed (this includes emergency situations generated by add-ons like FSPassengers).

The fastest time rate allowed for Atlantic Sun flights is 2x for category A and B flights and 4x for long-distance category C flights. Pilots who fly using a faster time rate are eligible to have their Flight Reports rejected.

Atlantic Sun Airways pilots are allowed to fly a maximum of 18 hours per every 24 hours (incl. any bonuses). Flight Reports filed for any amount of hours over 18 in a 24-hour period will be rejected without consideration. (You might encounter the 18hrs warning message when hours from previous VAs have been logged. In this case, simply wait for the end of the 24 hour period to file your flight report.)

Pilots must log their flight time after every flight, either by manually filling out a Flight Report [here], or by using our ASACARS or the FSPassengers add-on to automatically file a Flight Report. It is not permissible to collect or save up large amounts of flights and log multiple flights all at once. Each flight must be logged after it is completed or your Flight Report(s) may be rejected. Exceptions from this rule can be made under certain circumstances (e.g. when the 18 hrs warning message shows up after joining the VA).

To remain an active pilot, you must log at least one flight every 30 days, or you will be subject to removal from the rosters without notice. New pilots must log at least one flight within 7 days of becoming active on the roster. Any new pilot who signs up with Atlantic Sun Airways and does not file a Flight Report within their first 7 days of signing up may be subject to removal from the rosters.

Flight reports are not approved and listed under your profile automatically. All flight reports are checked and approved / disapproved manually by our hub managers. This usually happens at least once every 24 hours.

Flight time is logged in decimal numbers, e.g. 2.5 hours for a flight that lasted 2 hours and 30 minutes. Below you'll find a table for your reference. In addition, there is a calculator on the Flight Report page which will help you to calculate your flight time.

Minutes Hours
0-2 0.0
3-8 0.1
9-14 0.2
15-20 0.3
21-26 0.4
27-32 0.5
33-38 0.6
39-44 0.7
45-50 0.8
51-56 0.9
57-60 1.0
Pilot Ranking

Just as in real world aviation, pilots at Atlantic Sun Airways are both rated and graded. The chart below shows our ranking scale.

Rank Hour Insignia Aircraft
Trainee 0-9.9 A
Second Officer 10-49.9 A
First Officer 50-99.9 A, B
Senior First Officer 100-199.9 A, B
Captain 200-299.9 A, B
Senior Captain 300-499.9 A, B, C
ATP Captain 500-999.9 A, B, C
Senior ATP Captain 1,000+ A, B, C
Management N/A N/A
Hub Transfers

Pilots are allowed to transfer from one hub to another; a transfer application can be found from the Human Resources page. A pilot must be active at one hub for a time of three months before he or she will be eligible for a transfer to another hub.

Type Ratings

Pilots are awarded ribbons when they have accumulated enough hours of flight time in a certain aircraft (cat A: 150, cat B: 200, cat C: 300). The ribbons can be found in the pilot's log book, and they are as follows:

Aircraft Ribbon
B1900DF
ERJ-135
CRJ-200
ATR 72
ATR 72F
DHC-8-Q400
ERJ-170
(ARJ-85)
CRJ-900
A319/320
B717-200
(MD-83)
B737-800/900
B727-200
B757-200
MD-11F
A330-300
A340-600
B777-300
B747-400
B747-800F
A380-800
Achievement Ribbons

In addition to the type rating ribbons, the following achievement ribbons can be awarded.

Achievment Ribbon
1 year of service
2 years of service
500 hours
1000 hours
1500 hours
Passed Quiz A
Passed Quiz B
Passed Quiz C
Completed Training
Vatsim certified
Former Management Service
Real World Pilot