1 August 2002
To All Of Our Pilots,

First of all, please ignore my comments on the Message Boards about summer being very slow for us. This past month set new highs in flight hours, total pilots, applications, PIREPs, and pilot retention. And I expect our success to only improve with what I will announce in this letter.

Washington Virtual Airports closed yesterday, due to a lack of interest.and decreased demand. I had hoped to bring about a change in the virtual aviation industry, but was unsuccessful because of the poor climate for such a virtual airline. There has been little airport growth in real life, and many people were confused about the new virtual airport concept.

However, we have a bright future to look forward to. We will be expanding Continental-Northwest Virtual Airlines beginning this month, and renaming the virtual airline and expanding it further in August. Below, I have listed the changes for you and their importance.

Continental-Northwest Virtual Airlines will be renamed the Continental-KLM-Northwest Virtual Group. Its operations will remain focused on those of Continental and Northwest, but with the addition of another main partner, KLM, as well as several other airlines, all listed below. However, please note that these operations will not be allowed until announced on the website.

Alaska/Horizon - Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air operate from the U.S. West Coast and Alaska.
Hawaiian - Hawaiian Airlines operates from Hawaii to the U.S. and the South Pacific, as well as inter-island service.
KLM - KLM is the fourth-largest airline in Europe, and operates from Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Northwest Cargo - Northwest Cargo operates all-cargo 747s between the U.S. and Asia. These will be our first cargo operations.

KLM was dominant in our poll (tied for most votes with Air France) and in discussions at the message boards. Delta was also a heavy contender. I felt that it made more sense to add KLM than Air France because of Continental and Northwest's existing relationships with KLM. In addition, KLM easily fits into the infrastructure of Continental-Northwest, since KLM's flights are all available in the Northwest timetable. As for Delta, many of their types of routes are replicated by the operations of Continental and Northwest.

I chose to also add Alaska/Horizon and Hawaiian because our pilots have always shown interest in those flights, and those airlines, which all codeshare with Continental and Northwest, complement our existing operations in the U.S. Northwest Cargo operations will be the only one added this month. My current plan is for Continental-Northwest to be fully restructured to include KLM, Alaska/Horizon, and Hawaiian by September.

I'm sure you would like to know why I chose not to add Delta or Air France. While both would be wonderful additions with their varied fleets, popular liveries, and diverse hubs, I felt that the option I chose to exercise will be more rewarding because it offers flights that will be more popular and beneficial to our organization in the long run. This does not mean that the two are ruled out from any future expansion. Should we decide to add another virtual airline near the end of this year, both would likely be at the top of our list.

However, with the recent changes at the real Midway Airlines, we are considering bringing back Midway Virtual Airlines, which closed in October last year after the real Midway shut down and significantly reduced operations.

Also this month, we will be adding 20 management positions. In over two years of operations, I have been the only management for the virtual airlines. I feel that this needs to change to lighten my workload, but more importantly, to offer more and better services for you. I strongly encourage you to consider applying for a management position. More information and an application form are available here.

The Statistics section will receive a new addition this month: on-time performance. Pilots will check off on their PIREPs if the flight was on time or delayed (arrived more than 15 minutes after scheduled).

In addition, our Screenshots section has returned since being closed last year. I invite you to take the time to submit your screenshots and to look at what other pilots have done as well.

I will be in Portland, OR and Seattle, WA from August 26 - September 1 to observe Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air operations, as well as for personal reasons. I will be flying on Delta through Cincinnati. If you wish to meet me in any of those cities, please let me know.

I would appreciate it if you took the time to let me know how you feel about my monthly letters and the decisions I have made about our organization's future. Please feel free to contact me privately, or discuss the issues publicly through our Message Boards. Please notice that my AOL Instant Messenger screen name has changed.

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