1 June 2002
To All Of Our Pilots,

This month, there are many issues that I need to inform you about. Many of these issues have been discussed about in the new Message Boards, which I strongly encourage you to visit so that you can help shape our organization into what you want it to be. Over the past month, I have had to defended our current policies and organizational structure, while trying to restore the growth we've lost over the past few months.

In the message boards, there has been much talk about the future existence of Washington Virtual Airports, which has not been a strong contributor to the organization. In addition, the gradual drop in popularity of Swissair-Sabena Virtual (SSV) and Virgin International Airways (VIA) is causing concern. Virgin used to be the centerpiece of our organization, but has lost a significant amount of popularity over the past year. Swissair-Sabena had a strong start, but has been losing popularity. The main cause for this trend is the lack of members from Australia, Belgium, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the Washington metropolitan area. I would appreciate any suggestions or assistance you could provide to increase participation in these key regions.

Several pilots have brought forward the idea for adding additional virtual airlines to our organization, most of them based in Europe. While this is a valid idea, we have had difficulties at recruiting pilots in Europe, as shown by our difficulties at SSV and VIA, and the increasing popularity of Continental-Northwest Virtual Airlines. If we do make any expansion, it would most likely be in our most popular market, the U.S. With the current financial difficulties at US Airways, we are strongly considering restoring Virtual US Airways if the real airline ceases operations.

Pilots have shown interest in adding new sections and features to our organization, such as a restoring the previously unsuccessful Screenshots section. However, I feel our priority at this time should be finding ways to restore growth and retain pilots. I propose to increase retention by finding a universal incentive for pilots to fly more and stay with us. Incentives would be based on the performance of our organization, as measured through our Statistics page. Please take the time to discuss this idea at our message boards.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you have about the issues I've brought forward here, and please take the time to discuss them with our other pilots through our Message Boards.

Aaron Robinson
aaron.robinson@simairline.net
AOL Instant Messenger: SimAirlineNet