BAVirtual Policy

Membership

Organisation Principles

BAVirtual is an online virtual airline community for flight simulation enthusiasts. Our aim is to provide an environment where members can enjoy their hobby, learn more about airline operating procedures, and access airline schedules. Members can track their flying activity through a personal logbook and engage with other members via our forum and Discord server.

BAVirtual is guided by a mission statement and a set of organisational values. To ensure the smooth operation of the community, all members are required to comply with BAVirtual Policy, which sets out the standards and expectations of membership.

BAVirtual does not actively monitor or police members on an ongoing basis. Where a problem or disagreement arises between members, they are expected to make reasonable efforts to resolve the matter between themselves in the first instance. If this is not possible, the issue may be referred to the Membership Department for consideration.

Membership of BAVirtual is a privilege, not a right. The organisation is operated and administered by the Board of Directors for the benefit of the membership as a whole. The Board of Directors reserves the right to terminate the membership of any individual at any time and without notice. Decisions of the Board of Directors are final.

Recruitment

Only the following flight simulation applications are supported, and they must be run on either Windows 10 or Windows 11:

1. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020
2. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
3. Prepar3D (v4.5 and v5.x)
4. X-Plane (v11 and v12)

Applicants must be aged 16 or over on the date of application.

Applications must include the following information:

• Full name
• Valid email address
• Date of birth
• Active VATSIM CID number

The Membership Department reserves the right to request identification during the application process where there is any discrepancy or doubt regarding the information provided.

Applicants must provide a written summary demonstrating their desire to join BAVirtual and their understanding of its aims and values. The Membership Department reserves the right to reject any application that does not meet the required standard. Applications written using Artificial Intelligence will be rejected.

English is the primary language used for communication within BAVirtual.

Applicants must successfully complete an examination as part of the recruitment process.

Applicants who fail the entry examination may retake it once, provided that at least 48 hours have passed since the failed attempt.

If an applicant fails the examination twice under the same application, or allows the examination to expire, the application process will terminate. The applicant must then wait 14 days from the date of the second failure or expiry before submitting a new application.

New members will join one of the following fleets:

• Airbus
• Boeing
• Euroflyer
• CityFlyer

Applicants may not hold concurrent membership in BAVirtual and any other virtual airline that models its operations on British Airways.

Records

Members may hold only one account, regardless of its status. Former members wishing to return must request reactivation of their existing account through the support ticket system at BAVirtual Support.

Upon registration, members will be assigned a BAW identification number in the format BAWxxxx.

The Membership Department reserves the right to suspend an account indefinitely where there is doubt regarding the accuracy or completeness of the personal information provided. The suspension will remain in place until the department is satisfied that the information held in the database complies with this policy.

Changes to Personal Details

Requests to change personal details, including a member’s name, must be submitted through the support ticket system at https://support.bavirtual.co.uk/.

Members may change their forename and surname a maximum of once per calendar year.

Activity Requirements

New and Returning Members

New accounts will be closed unless at least one PIREP is logged within 14 days of successfully completing the entrance examination.

If a new member fails to log at least one accepted PIREP within this period, their account will be deactivated. Any subsequent reactivation will be subject to the policy governing returning members.

Returning members must log at least one accepted PIREP within 14 days of account reactivation. Failure to do so will result in the account being automatically deactivated.

Full Members

Members must log at least three qualifying PIREPs within any rolling 90-day period. If a member is unable to meet this requirement, they must notify the Membership Department immediately through the support ticket system at https://support.bavirtual.co.uk/.

Qualifying PIREPs are flights logged using the following schedules:

• UK Domestic
• Europe
• Worldwide
• EuroFlyer
• CityFlyer
• Maintenance
• Charter
• Diversion

Members who fail to log three qualifying PIREPs within a rolling 90-day period will be considered inactive, and their account will be deactivated without further notice. Notification of the deactivation will be sent to the member’s registered email address.

Members whose accounts have been deactivated may apply for reactivation by submitting a ticket through the support ticket system at BAVirtual Support. Applications for reactivation will be considered in accordance with the guidance set out in the table below, including the number of previous reactivations. The Membership Department may waive these requirements in exceptional circumstances.

The Director of Membership may, at their discretion, temporarily waive the activity requirements on a case-by-case basis in exceptional circumstances, such as serious illness. Any waiver will be subject to regular review and must not exceed a continuous period of inactivity of 12 months. Members are otherwise expected to comply with the activity requirements.

The Board of Directors may, at its sole discretion, waive the activity requirements for any member for an indefinite period.

Re-activation Number	Time to have Elapsed from De-Activation
1	30 Days
2	60 Days
3+	90 Days

Captains who request reactivation of their account after more than one year of inactivity, or who are submitting their third reactivation request, will be demoted to the rank of Senior First Officer.

Where a member has maintained continuous activity for a period of two calendar years before becoming inactive and having their account deactivated, any subsequent reactivation request will be treated as a first reactivation request.

Hour Cap

Members may log a maximum of 135 duty hours within any rolling 30-day period.

Members holding the rank of Captain may choose to waive this duty hour limit for their account.

Discipline

Conduct

The conduct requirements apply to all BAVirtual resources, including but not limited to:

• The website and forum
• The Discord server
• Social media accounts and pages
• In-person events or meetings associated with BAVirtual
• Any situation where management reasonably believes that BAVirtual’s reputation may be brought into disrepute Conduct occurring outside BAVirtual platforms where management reasonably believes there is a connection to BAVirtual membership, including but not limited to cases involving harassment or bullying.

General requirements

Members must behave courteously and respectfully towards others at all times.

Members are expected to maintain appropriate standards of professionalism and must not act in any way that could bring BAVirtual into disrepute.

Members must not upload, post, or share:

• Pornographic material or links of any kind
• References or links to pirated software
• Political content
• Comments or remarks intended to offend, particularly those relating to religion, sexual orientation, gender, local customs, or race
• Messages intended to disrupt, harass, slander, libel, or defame others
• Content that could reasonably be considered advertising for another virtual airline
• Training material without prior approval from management

BAVirtual respects the intellectual property rights of others and requires members to do the same. BAVirtual responds to allegations of copyright infringement in accordance with its DMCA Policy.

Before requesting assistance, members must take reasonable steps to find answers using the resources available to them. At a minimum, this includes consulting the Frequently Asked Questions section of the Discord server..

While flying:

• Members are expected to operate flights in a reasonably realistic manner and in accordance with standard aviation practices. This includes, but is not limited to, flight and fuel planning, gate usage, and aircraft operation, as set out in the BAVirtual Minimum Standard of Flying.
• Members using online networks, such as VATSIM, must comply with the rules and regulations of those organisations.
• The use of time acceleration (i.e. sim rate increase) is prohibited.
• Members may not double-log flights with other virtual airlines. This restriction does not apply to logbook tracking services such as Volanta.

Members must take all reasonable steps to comply with the published rules for BAVirtual events, including but not limited to:

• Adhering to allocated event slot times
• Not gaining an unfair or artificial advantage in competitions
• Flying between the specified airports using approved aircraft types
• Honouring booked slots

Disciplinary Process

Directors, Chief Pilots, and Membership Managers (“authorised persons”) are empowered to investigate and take disciplinary action where they reasonably suspect that a member has breached this policy. Authorised persons must take reasonable steps to avoid conflicts of interest and maintain the integrity of the disciplinary process.

Other Managers may advise members on the rules and expected standards of conduct. Where appropriate, they may also refer matters to an authorised person for investigation or disciplinary action.

Editorial moderation of content, including but not limited to editing, removing, or closing posts, or removing members from voice channels on BAVirtual platforms, is not considered disciplinary action in itself. Such moderation may be carried out by any member of Management with the appropriate permissions.

Disciplinary action may be either informal or formal.

Informal action may be used where a breach is considered minor, or where formal action would not be appropriate. Informal action does not require the direct involvement of the Membership Department.

Formal action may be used where a breach is considered serious, or where multiple breaches have occurred over a period of time. All formal disciplinary cases require the involvement of the Membership Department.

Whenever informal or formal action is initiated, the member must be notified using their registered email address. Notification will normally be issued automatically through the BAVMS system or manually through the support ticket system to ensure traceability.

All disciplinary action must be recorded on the member’s account.

Informal action may result in one or more of the following outcomes:

• Cancellation of the action in light of new information
• A warning
• Removal from the Discord server
• Modification or temporary suspension of access to the BAVMS, forum, Discord server, or other BAVirtual platforms for up to seven days
• Removal of a PIREP where relevant to the breach

Formal action may result in one or more of the following outcomes:

• Cancellation of the action in light of new information
• A warning
• Modification, restriction, or removal of access to any BAVirtual.co.uk systems, accounts, or groups for any length of time, including permanently
• Demotion to any rank
• Loss of seniority number
• Removal of hours and/or PIREPs
• Removal from a fleet, such as Concorde
• For First Officers and Senior First Officers, or Captains demoted to either rank, classification as Category C for a specified minimum period

The formal disciplinary process is as follows:

The authorised person initiating the case (“the investigator”) must first conduct an investigation to establish the facts. This may include discussions with the member concerned and any other individuals who may hold relevant information.

If the investigator believes that a temporary suspension is necessary to protect the integrity or security of BAVirtual, they may impose a suspension of up to 21 days.

Once the investigation is complete, or within seven days of a temporary suspension being imposed, the outcome of the investigation must be recorded in the support ticket system.

A member of the Membership Department must then either:

• Handle the case personally, unless doing so would create a conflict of interest, or
• Assign the case to another authorised person permitted under this policy to take disciplinary action. The appointed person must hold the same or a higher staff rank than the investigator.
• The authorised person responsible for the review (“the independent reviewer”) must independently assess the following matters and may request additional information from any relevant party:
• Which section of the policy is alleged to have been breached
• The strength of the evidence supporting the allegation
• The member’s previous disciplinary history
• Whether due process has been followed correctly

The independent reviewer must determine and document the outcome, including any penalties, within 14 days of a temporary suspension being imposed. The outcome will normally be communicated through the support ticket system to:

• The member subject to disciplinary action, using their registered email address
• The authorised person who initiated the disciplinary action
• Members subject to formal disciplinary action have the right to appeal the final outcome.

Appeals must be submitted within seven days of notification of the outcome and must be made through the support ticket system.

The Chief Executive Officer will hear all appeals unless they were previously involved in the case as either the investigator or independent reviewer. In such circumstances, the Membership Department will appoint another member of the Board of Directors to hear the appeal.

The Chief Executive Officer, or other appointed person hearing the appeal, may request any further information necessary to assess whether the original outcome was appropriate. They may, at their sole discretion:

• Uphold the original outcome
• Reduce the penalty
• Overturn the outcome entirely

The person hearing the appeal must document the outcome and, where required, obtain ratification from the Board of Directors before communicating the decision through the support ticket system to:

• The member subject to disciplinary action
• The person who initiated the disciplinary action
• The independent reviewer

Any disciplinary outcome that results in penalties lasting longer than 12 months will automatically be treated as though an appeal has been submitted and must be reviewed by the Board of Directors.

In such cases:

• The final review process must first have been completed
• The appeal outcome and supporting information must be provided to the Board of Directors before the next scheduled formal Board meeting, with the matter added to the meeting agenda
• A majority vote of the Board is required to uphold the penalty. If no majority is achieved, the member must immediately be restored to full membership status

If, at any stage during the formal disciplinary process, a member requests closure of their account or deletion of their personal data from BAVirtual, BAVirtual reserves the indefinite right to refuse any future request to reactivate that account or create a new one.

Flight Operations

Rank Structure and Seniority

BAVirtual uses the following member ranks:

• First Officer (FO) — two epaulette stripes
• Senior First Officer (SFO) — three epaulette stripes
• Captain (CPT) — four epaulette stripes

Rank Allocation and Seniority

All new members will be assigned the rank of First Officer upon registration, without exception.

Promotion

Members will be automatically promoted to the rank of Senior First Officer once they meet the following criteria:

• Twelve continuous months of active membership
• A minimum of 150 logged flying hours

Promotion will occur automatically upon acceptance of the first PIREP submitted after both the required tenure and flying hours have been achieved.

Promotion to the rank of Captain requires all of the following criteria to be met:

• Twelve continuous months of active membership
• A minimum of 150 logged flying hours
• Completion of 100 flown sectors
• Allocation of Category A status
• Successful completion of the Command Course

Promotion to Captain is carried out manually following completion of the command check.

All members are assigned one of the following categories:

• Category A: Meets all requirements for promotion to Captain, subject to successful completion of the Command Course.
• Category B: Has not yet met the requirements for promotion to Captain
• Category C: Is considered unsuitable for promotion to Captain due to disciplinary or other reasons.

Member categorisation is managed by the Chief Pilot responsible for the member’s assigned fleet. All new members are automatically placed in Category B.

Chief Pilots may assign First Officers and Senior First Officers to or from Category C status. Any such decision must be justified and communicated in writing to:

• The member
• The Director of Flight Operations

Members may appeal a Category C allocation to the Director of Flight Operations, whose decision will be final. The outcome of the appeal must be provided in writing to:

• The member
• The Chief Pilot

Administrative Fleets

Each Chief Pilot is responsible for the members assigned to their respective fleet. A member’s fleet allocation is shown within their user profile.

A member’s assigned fleet determines their administrative team, and the corresponding Chief Pilot acts as their line manager.

Permitted Aircraft Types

BAVirtual primarily focuses on the operations of the real-world airline British Airways. Additional schedules are provided as secondary options to offer members greater variety and additional areas of interest. Approved aircraft types are linked to these schedules.

Members may operate any aircraft type associated with the relevant scheduled flight in the BAVMS database.

Certain aircraft operating within the British Airways mainline fleet may be substituted on mainline scheduled flights. These substitutions are controlled through the BAVMS website.

The following aircraft are recognised as Mainline Permitted Aircraft Types when operated in a British Airways livery on an appropriate scheduled flight:

• Airbus A319
• Airbus A320
• Airbus A320neo
• Airbus A321
• Airbus A321neo
• Airbus A350-1000
• Airbus A380-800
• Boeing 777-200ER
• Boeing 777-300ER
• Boeing 787-8
• Boeing 787-9
• Boeing 787-10
• Embraer E190

Mainline Permitted Aircraft Types may not be substituted with aircraft that are not part of the British Airways mainline fleet.

The following aircraft are recognised as Historic Types when operated in an appropriate British Airways, BOAC, or BEA livery:

• ATR 72-300
• Avro RJ85
• Avro RJ100
• BAe 146-100
• BAe 146-200
• BAe 146-300
• BAC 1-11
• BAC/Aérospatiale Concorde
• Boeing 707-320
• Boeing 737-200
• Boeing 737-300
• Boeing 737-400
• Boeing 747-100
• Boeing 747-200
• Boeing 747-400
• Boeing 757-200
• Boeing 767-300
• de Havilland Comet 4
• de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter
• Hawker Siddeley Trident
• Lockheed L-1011 TriStar
• McDonnell Douglas DC-10
• Vickers VC10

The Historic Types category also includes the following aircraft previously operated under the British Airways cargo subsidiary:

• Global Supply System B747-400F
• Global Supply System B747-8F

Management

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors (BoD) is the highest level of management within BAVirtual and is collectively responsible for:

• Financing the organisation
• Providing strategic leadership and delivering a professional simulation of airline operations based on the real-world airline British Airways
• Upholding the organisation’s reputation and values

The Board is made up of Directors, each of whom is responsible for a specific operational area.

Position	Holder	Responsibiliites
Chief Executive Officer	Liam Tallis	Responsible for the overall vision, strategy, and day-to-day management of both the Board of Directors and BAVirtual as a whole, including oversight of financial matters and maintenance of the BAV bank account.
Director of Flight Operations	Lucas Hanman	Responsible for all fleet operations and flight technical matters, and serves as the overall Chief Pilot.
Director of Flight Scheduling	Iain Sealey	Responsible for all scheduling, route planning, and fleet utilisation matters.
Director of Membership	Callum McLoughlin	Responsible for overseeing all recruitment and membership-related matters.
Director of Technical Services	Matt Bozwood-Davies	Responsible for overseeing and driving the current and future development of all software, websites, server infrastructure, and other technical resources.
Director of Events & Marketing	Laurie Cooper	Responsible for overseeing and delivering a comprehensive events programme, encouraging community participation, and managing all external communications and publicity.

The Chief Executive Officer is responsible for handling complaints concerning Directors and may remove Directors or staff members from their positions at their sole discretion.

The Chief Executive Officer may be removed from office by a two-thirds majority vote of all other serving Directors.

The appointment process for new Directors may, where appropriate, include a recruitment process open to all BAVirtual members.

However, this may not always be practical or suitable depending on the nature of the role. Prospective Directors are generally expected to already hold a Management position within BAVirtual.

The appointment process for new Directors must include a vote by the Board of Directors, with the candidate receiving a simple majority of votes being appointed to the role

The Board of Directors utilise technology to conduct votes on major changes of policy, as required.

Other Staff

Staff are defined as members who hold an official role that allows them to make decisions or contribute to the operation of BAVirtual. Management refers to staff members who hold significant responsibility for delivering and overseeing processes and outcomes, and who have been granted Management status by the relevant departmental Director.

Staff positions may only be created and filled where specific criteria are met. These criteria are as follows:

• The work carried out by the staff member should be visible to, and directly experienced by, BAVirtual members
• Staff positions should only be created where: -- New requirements have been identified that cannot reasonably be fulfilled by existing staff, or -- Demand within a particular function exceeds the capacity of the current active staff
• Positions should be created at the lowest practical level within the organisation

Directors are responsible for identifying and filling staff positions within their respective departments. Recruitment campaigns may proceed subject to approval from the Chief Executive Officer, who must confirm that the required criteria have been met.

Vacancies for Management positions should normally be filled through a recruitment process open to all BAVirtual members.

All staff roles must have defined objectives against which performance can be reviewed periodically. A reasonable and pragmatic approach should be taken in recognition that all BAVirtual roles are voluntary. However, individuals who are unable to meet the objectives of their role are expected to step down so that another member may contribute to the organisation’s operations and development.

The responsible Director must submit the outcome of each performance review to the Chief Executive Officer.

Staff Conduct

All staff are required to comply fully with the terms of this Policy and are held to a higher standard of conduct than members. Management are expected to act as constructive critics of BAVirtual, providing appropriate challenge, feedback, and commentary on the organisation’s operations through official Management communication channels.

The disclosure of staff discussions to any unauthorised person without the approval of a Director is strictly prohibited.

Unless exceptional circumstances apply, such a breach will result in, at a minimum, removal from the staff role and withdrawal of any enhanced access permissions.

All staff must familiarise themselves with and comply with the Data Protection and Handling Policy.

Revision History

Rev. No	Date Entered	Revision History
1.0	August 2021	BAVirtual Policy superseded the BAVirtual SOP with a full rewrite, and reflects the new rank structure.
1.1	January 2022	Minor typographical corrections and clarifications throughout.
1.2	June 2023	Updates to sim support, addition of EuroFlyer fleet, permitted aircraft type updates and addition of life memberships. ∼Changes are represented by this colour text.∼
1.3	January 2024	Moved to new format, update to board positions, conduct rules and Organisation Principles added
1.3.1	January 2024	Typographical updates. Membership rules clarified. A list of approved Life Members introduced
1.3.2	February 2024	Further typographical updates. Recruitment process clarification. BoD roles tabulated with post holders. Removal of life membership as no longer required due to earlier changes to this policy.
1.3.3	March 2024	Further typographical updates, and alignment of wording for consistency.
1.3.4	April 2024	Clarification of cooling off period for expired exams.
1.3.5	May 2024	Clarification on DMCA & members conduct
1.3.6	June 2024	Update to reflect GSS Cargo Operations. Removal of Concorde as a mainline fleet. Introduction of Euroflyer as a fleet. Removal of disciplinary@bavirtual.co.uk e-mail address and adoption of the support ticket system for that purpose.
1.3.7	July 2024	Wording corrections to historic types
1.3.8	August 2024	Substitution rules amended. Wording changes to disciplinary process.
1.3.9	November 2024	English stated as the primary language at BAVirtual. Update to BoD table. Additional clarification of rules regarding professional behaviours.
1.3.10	February 2025	Removal of Airbus A350 and Embraer E190 substitutions. Rule added to prohibit applications written by AI. MSFS 2024 added as a supported platform.
1.3.11	April 2025	14 day reactivation PIREP requirement, removal of redundant experience points from PIREPs
1.3.12	May 2025	Removal of Concorde Course as pre-requisite to fly Concorde with BAVirtual. Clarification that newly registered members cannot take leave until 3 months has elapsed since registration.
1.3.13	September 2025	Reference to the mission statement and values. Addition of double-logging rule. Expansion of staff rules. Update to the members of the BoD.
1.3.14	March 2026	Changes to supported sims
1.4	June 2026	Change activity policy from 1 flight in 31 days to 3 flights in 90 days. Removal of leave. Rewording to make the document clearer and easier to understand.
1.4.1	June 2026	Correction of typo errors. Enhance time acceleration text.