4 February 2005
To All Of Our Pilots,

Last month, we released our 2005 Operations Plan, which received outstanding feedback. It called for twelve areas for us to focus on for improvement for this year, of which four have already been completed, with the other eight in progress. Unfortunately, we were unable to meet our January goals for virtual expansion, but Virtual British Airways should open later this month after extensive development, including the operations of British Airways' franchise partners and regional affiliates as well. January was by no means a poor month though, as we set new records for flight hours, total pilots, active pilots, inactive pilots, PIREPs, and hours per active pilot. Air Canada, Alitalia, and ANA also had their best months ever.

New Message Boards Open
Our new Message Boards opened earlier this month, replacing the ones previously in use for two and a half years. The new boards have considerably more features and no advertisements, making our fourth generation by far the finest yet. I strongly encourage you to visit them if you have not already.

Recent Management Changes, New Hiring
Bryan O'Donnell, our Fleet Manager for ANA, Concorde, and Continental recently announced his resignation from those positions. O'Donnell was part of our management team for nearly two years, and we thank him for his service to SimAirline.net. Therefore, we are currently hiring for all three Fleet Manager positions.We have recently hired long-time management team member Brandon Jones to be our Training Manager. We have also hired Steven Kimball and Ethan Klapper as Marketing Managers. Please also be aware that two of our Fleet Managers are switching positions. Amy Gardner is now the Korean Air Fleet Manager, and Josh Plave is now the Air Canada Fleet Manager. Finally, upon request from pilots, short biographies of our management team are now online. As always, we are hiring for the position of Aircraft Developer.

Contributions Update
Through the end of January, we have received about $470 U.S. in contributions from fourteen pilots for 2005. An overview of our fiscal situation through 3 February can be seen here. Thanks to all pilots that contributed. Our current financial position is outstanding, as our website (by far the largest portion of our costs) took only a third of the amount expected.

SimAirline.net to Attend International FlightSim Convention 2005
This year's International FlightSim Convention will be in Blackpool, England, 9-10 July, and is a major event in the flightsim community. SimAirline.net has booked a table to advertise ourselves at the convention, but we are still in need of pilots who are willing and able to represent us at our booth. Some compensation for expenses may be available. Please let me know if you can help. More information on our attendance at the event can be found here.

Delta Closes Dallas/Ft. Worth Hub
Delta closed their Dallas/Ft. Worth hub on 31 January, but upon popular request, Delta Virtual will continue to operate the hub through their Discontinued Flights. One route will be added per day.

Post-2005 Expansion Revised
Our 2005 Operations Plan previously said we would add no more than four virtual airlines after 2005 and stop expansion, with one each from the People's Republic of China and India. This has been revised and expanded to six, with one of the additional two from Russia.

Higher Screenshots Standards in Effect
Our Screenshots section continues to receive an extraordinary number of additions, at an ever-growing pace. However, the quality level of screenshots we accept has not increased as members' experience has increased and simulator capabilities have improved. Therefore, we are now using higher aesthetic standards when judging which screenshots to add. Our recommendations on meeting these standards, can be found on our Submission page.

Pilot Meetings In Danger
In our 2004 Survey Results, over 65% of respondents reported that they would be interested in meeting other pilots for fun at their local airport, yet so far very few pilots have expressed interest or volunteered to help organizine one locally. If pilots don't wish to continue to have this feature, it will be removed. If you are interested, please take the time to visit our Pilot Meetings page.

ANA Codeshare With Lufthansa Expanded
A few days ago, ANA Virtual's codeshare agreement, in effect since December 2003, with the Lufthansa FlightSim Pilots Group expanded to include Lufthansa's Frankfurt-Nagoya route. SimAirline.net also codeshares with Lufthansa on flights between Germany and both Canada and South Africa, with plans to expand this in the future to include Lufthansa's flights to Brazil and Thailand.

This month, I'd like to end my Message with something a bit different than usual: a plea for your help. I am trying to obtain an internship or position with an airline or related company for this summer. If you could forward my information to a personal contact that could possible help, I would greatly appreciate it. I am researching opportunities on my own, so please don't worry about contacting me with just an airline's name. Please also be sure to include a copy of my résumé. Thank you.

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