IFVARB Policies

In order to avoid any VA related incidents, we advise VAs to keep users who may seem to be a bad apple out of the VA as a whole, and especially the staff team. Same goes for VA/VO staff and leaders - we would advise staying away from bad "apples" and any other groups or places which have a bad history. IFVARB in no way monitors users, but if a serious report is made and can be backed up, there will zero tolerance for abuse, bullying, and trolling. To protect the Community, a wide net is often cast with incidents such as this, so we advise sticking to good people and good places, although that is of course at one’s own discretion. View User Watchlist

Certification Process:

• Before a VA/VO has a presence in the community, they must be certified via the application process. Any form of virtual organisation within the IFC will fall under this criteria.

  •  Users are to consult the banned Virtual Airlines before applying. Any applications, under the name of the banned virtual airlines, will be immedietly declined due to copyright issues.

• Multiple applications from the same user will be automatically declined.

• If a user decides to withdraw their application during the certification process, they must wait for the duration of 45 days before applying again.

• Users in bad standing in the community, along with users with a history of disrespectful behaviour may be denied access to the certification process.

VA / VO / IFVARB Operations:

• Incidents of misbehaviour on the Live Servers should be reported to VA CEOs when possible to enable training and development.

• Any form of “spying”, “virtual espionage”, and/or any unprofessional behaviour will not be tolerated.

• Copying content made by other VAs/VOs is not permitted - be original!

• To reduce operational and moderation complexity, mergers with VA’s of other simulators are banned.

• VAs and VOs must always have a public thread and application accessible by any user on the Infinite Flight Community. The VA staff is still in charge of setting the entry requirements and rejecting applications, however they should not be unapproachable. 

  • VAs still hold the right to request an invite only system from the IFVARB Admin Team, however the decision might not be in favour of the VA / VO. 

  • VAs may still use a waitlist in case of a long queue of applicants, however, the applicants must receive a notice and response about their application in a timely manner.

• Please use the IFVARB User Watchlist to ensure that you are accepting members who will contribute positively to your VA. It is highly recommended that you do not admit the users on the above list into your VA

• We require that each member has an IFC account associated with it to enable better disciplinary tracking if action on the IFC is required. The user must be in good standing, suspended users are not eligible to take part in VA activity while suspended on the IFC.

• Perma-banned users from the IFC are also banned from participating in any IFVARB sanctioned VA.

• Any form of attacking and/or trolling of other VA/VO will not be tolerated. Each offense will be handled individually and may result in suspension and/or removal from the community.

• Virtual airline CEOs retain the right to release any member or staff from thier virtual airlines at anytime for any reason. 

• **[UPDATED]** CEOs are required to contact the IFVARB Admin Team directly when closing or ceasing operations of their virtual airlines to provide official notice.

Infinite Flight Forum:

• All posts in the VA Category must be approved by a moderator or administrator beforehand.

• VAs, along with their leaders, their staff, and their members are all expected to act in a respectable and reasonable manner both within the IFC and in other environments. Keep in mind you’re both representing the IFC and the Airline you fly for, so be respectful!

• VAs should only be advertising in the VA category on the IFC; advertising through unsolicited direct messages on any communication platform, including Discord, Slack, and the IFC, is strictly prohibited.

• Whilst activity is encouraged, VAs should only be bumping threads to a reasonable extent.

• Topic Titles in the VA Category should be professional and not be excessively long, nor contain screaming caps.

• VA / VO accounts are allowed after the certification process. The account must meet the community criteria AT ALL TIMES.

Staff Restrictions and Cool Downs

• Members may only be on staff at one VA/VO and one Virtual Alliance at once to ensure that they’re committed and can perform their duties in a satisfactory manner. This also minimizes the number of ceremonial positions granted, and to prevent incidences of staff members going AWOL when needed. Virtual alliance board membership counts as a virtual alliance staff position. Members may also serve in an IFVARB role while staff at one virtual airline. 

  • Staff members who resign from a VA/VO are barred from holding any other VA/VO staff position for 30 days after their resignation.

  • Staff members who resign from a virtual alliance staff or board position are not subject to a cool down and can serve at another alliance after resignation from the former.

• Non-staff roles are allowed with very limited capacity to prevent circumvention of staff cool down requirements. A non-staff role (e.g., advisor, event leader, etc.) is one that does not have leadership or management privileges on a server (i.e., moderation powers) nor any regular duties whatsoever other than simple on-and-off tasks, such as leading events or advising the leadership. Please check with an Admin if you are unsure about a non-staff position at your VA/VO.

• VA/VO CEOs must not be on staff at any other VA/VO to ensure the CEO is dedicating all of his/her resources to their VA/VO.

  • VA/VO CEOs who resign from their position are barred from applying to start another VA/VO or serving as CEO for 6 months and are ineligible to hold a staff position at another VA/VO for 3 months.

  • After a VA/VO has been certified, if that CEO ceases operations prior to 90 days from the time of official IFVARB Cerfication, that CEO will be restricted for the period of ONE (1) year from being able to apply for a new VA/VO.

• A staff member can be eligible for a staff cool down waiver under the following circumstances:

  • The staff member has served for TWO (2) months or more and wishes to move to another staff position at another VA. The CEO of the VA/VO said staff member leaving can recommend to the IFVARB a waiver of the cool down requirement.

  • The staff member has served for THREE (3) months or more and wishes to start their own Virtual Airline/Organization. The CEO can recommend to the IFVARB a waiver of the cool down requirement and allow the user to apply to start a VA/VO. The staff member may remain on staff until the application is approved, if the CEO allows it.

  • In all cases, the IFVARB reserves the right to deny the waiver request. CEO's must contact the IFVARB by creating a ticket on our Discord server to recommend a cool down waiver for a staff member. Any disputes or disagreements between the staff member and CEO will be reviewed by the IFVARB Admin Team. A waiver will not automatically be given, and we will typically lean on the side of our CEO's.

Codeshares

• All airlines must have permission to operate a codeshare.
   
• Codeshares within certified Virtual Airlines/Organizations are allowed as long as there is an agreement between the two (or more) operating airlines. While the IFVARB prefers that the codeshares match real-world operations, VA/VO's are permitted to codeshare with routes on their own to best help out their VA/VO.
   
• All codeshares MUST be agreed upon before a VA/VO can operate them. If a VA/VO does not exist, has closed or is in the certification process, and you wish to codeshare that airline, you may operate the codeshare as long as the real-world airlines uses the route and it is available to you via your real-world airline's route network. If it is not available, and the virtual airline does not exist, you are not eligible to use that flight within your VA/VO.
• If a VA/VO that you are operating is later certified, it is your responsibility to create an agreement with them and it is at their discretion. Should the VA/VO decline a codeshare, you are then not able to operate that codeshare.  

Voice Communications

• Voice communications are a privilege that can be restricted from any VA/VO at the discretion of the IFVARB and or IFC Moderation team. (January 2021)

  • The CEO/Person Responsible of a VA/VO is ultimately responsible for moderating voice channels and its contents. The IFVARB will NOT moderate voice communications and any issues within voice channels will be handled by the VA/VO. 

  • VA/VOs are responsible for maintaining communications up to IFC standards, IFC rules surrounding acceptable communications should be the VA/VO's guide towards acceptable content. We leave access permissions of voice channels up to the VA/VO staff on who may partake in them. All voice channels must be regulated by a VA/VO in order to ensure that user safety is maintained at all times. Unregulated voice channels are prohibited.

  • Voice recording in any channel is strictly prohibited. Staff meetings and VA/VO meetings can be recorded with explicit written permission of all parties involved.

  • Voice ATC operations are STRICTLY prohibited within all VA/VO communities.

  • Streaming within Discord voice channels (VCs) is ALLOWED only when a staff member is present to moderate channel activity. Webcam video sharing remains PROHIBITED.

  • Infinite Flight and the IFVARB are independent of any voice communications that take place within the VA/VO community. VA/VOs that are in breach of these regulations will have its voice communication hosting privileges revoked.

Mergers 

• To protect the right of Infinite Flight VA CEO's and future CEO's, IFVARB restricts the ability to merge airlines together. This protects CEO's having the ability to build and grow VA's and limits the restrictions that could be placed on airlines through mergers.                              

  •  Direct subsidiary airlines are considered a direct operation of a Virtual Airline, therefore, VA's may operate and have the rights to direct subsidiaries operated by the parent. 

  • A CEO can still contact the IFVARB Admin Team and ask for a merger.

Last Updated: August 7th 2024