AFV493
Senior Captain, DC-3
DISPATCHER
Joined on May 01 2011
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UK
1,189 legs, 2,352.1 hours
343 legs,
538.6 hours online
1,189 legs,
2,352.1 hours ACARS
2 legs,
4.1 hours event
318 legs dispatched, 179.0
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Posted onPost created on
March 19 2013 15:05 ET by Roger Taylor
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Air France Virtual Airlines
Charter Policy
PLEASE READ IN FULL AND CAREFULLY
All,
Over the past couple of months some of you would have noticed that the Charter Office has been closed. I have been reworking the way in which we issue charters for pilots, this has taken longer than first anticipated due to technical issue with my PC, not having access to a PC for over a month has left myself behind in a lot of area’s thankfully I am almost caught up on everything, the Charter Policy being the last major thing to sort out, albeit not major in terms of the operational side of the airline.
Firstly I wish to share with you how much work is involved in issuing charters, so that you will understand why I have changed the policy.
The process starts of course with the Pilot(s) requesting a charter via the Help Desk which is the correct procedure of course.
If the pilot request a single leg charter to airports that are already served by one of the numerous airlines we have in the schedules but not directly linked it can take up to 3 minutes for me to insert it into their logbook. I process is I have to locate there logbook then manually add the Airline which is by default Air France a Flight Number which is there PID plus a 9 in front making a 4-digit number. I then have to enter the departure airport and then the arrival, then save it, the reload there logbook to see if it has been entered correctly. So that is just for one leg. Now if there is a request for multiple legs I have to do the process for every leg, so if a pilot requests a 10 leg charter that can take up to 30 minutes to insert into their logbooks so it is not a quick job.
If a pilot requests a charter to airports that are not in our database this process is extended even further, as I have to add the airport to the database before I can even start inserting the charter into the logbook. For me to add an airport I have to have several bit of information which sometimes can be a right pain to get and so from starting the search to inserting the airport CAN take up to 20 minutes. Then however many times I have to add a leg, so if someone asks for a charter that has 4 airports not served that alone is over an hours work just for that then 3 or 4 minutes per leg I have to add.
OK if you got to this point and are still awake well done, we are almost to the point of actually how the new policy is going to work.
This Policy will take effect from April 1st 2013 and run for the foreseeable future.
From April 1st there are going to be TWO (2) types of charters which I will go into more detail in each section.
SO let’s crack on with the details shall we…
Charter 1 – Connecting Logbook Bail Out.
The Connecting Logbook Bail Out charter is aimed at Pilots flying connecting logbooks and are unable to continue this due to schedule mess up’s as most of you are aware China is all over the place in terms of schedules where there is a flight into an airport but not out again or no inbound but an outbound. So in order to serve them you’d have to either request a charter leg which would have been deducted from your allowance under the old system or break the logbook.
NOT ANYMORE – Now if this happens you are permitted to execute a Bail Out Charter – HOWEVER there is a catch you will be returned to your last departure airport for example you flew Amsterdam to Aberdeen but there was no return flight, the Bail Out Charter will send you back to Amsterdam, you will NOT be permitted to fly to any other destination period, if you wish to fly out to somewhere else then that is perfectly fine however you will need to request a formal charter leg, and will be taken off your allowance.
Please be aware that we need up to 48 hours notice for a charter request, so plan ahead. It may not take 48 hours but you have to remember that we are not here 24/7 and have other thing more important than charters.
How to request a Bail Out Charter? – Simply go to the Help Desk and enter BAIL OUT CHARTER Request in the subject and tell me where you are stuck or will be stuck and where you have/will be flying in from I will then just send you back to that destination – Job Done.
Charter 2 – Full Charter
The full charter is basically like the old charter where you request flights that are not in the schedules.
Now there was a reason for all the waffle above about how charters are dealt with by myself, the reason for the above was because the way in which you request the Full Charters is different and I will outline it below with an example charter request.
Firstly the charter can be from anywhere to anywhere, there is however a max of 20 legs per charter request.
We generally have upwards of 13,000 plus flights in our schedules on a given day, so the need for charters are for specially flights that are not covered.
OK so we will look at the way in which the information I need to assess the request (PLEASE note that a charter is not a mandatory policy within the structure of the Airline, it is a special privilege we give the pilots so just requesting one does not automatically guarantee you will have it approved and I reserve the right to refuse the request on any grounds, including time constraints on my work schedule, see above how I have to process them and the time it takes. If you go and request a 20 leg charter that can be upwards of 2 hours work on my behalf and at the time I may be dealing with more pressing issues not to mention over chart requests).
I need the following information.
1) Date you wish to start the charter – As I said above I need at least 48 hours notice so it is no good you wanting a charter on Wednesday if today is a Tuesday, so again Plan ahead. The further ahead the better as it gives me chance to get the information to your Log book in time.
2) Aircraft Type – I need a type of aircraft to add the data, this is just for clarity purposes you are not required to fly the type on the charter and can sub as you wish.
3) Legs – An obvious detail required – I am not a mind reader I need the airports you wish to fly too.
Please see below for more information I require for this selection.
4) Reason – I need a reason why you want to fly this charter, this helps me decide whether or not to grant it.
OK that’s the 4 mandatory bits I need, if any of them are missing your charter will not be issued, it will be your responsibility to insure all the information is correct. If any data is missing I will reject it there and then, I will not chase you for the information.
OK NOW TO THE REALLY IMPORTANT INFORMATION REQUIRED – If not complete your charter will be refused.
As stated ate the begging of this essay I mentioned what it takes to add airports and charter legs and how long it takes me to do.
I have a lot of work to do both Real World and Air France Virtual Airlines, and issuing charters is just a small part of the puzzle I also would like to fly on occasion if I can, so with that said, YOU are to help me to help you.
The following is MANDATORY
When requesting a charter you obviously need to provide me the Airports you wish to fly, so I need the following information for each airport laid out as below.
Full Airport Name (If in the USA or Canada I need the State in which it is located)
Country
IATA Code (3-letter)
ICAO Code (4-letter)
Latitude
Longitude
Time Zone
I need that information for all Airports you intend to visit REGARDLESS if the Airport is already served.
All that information is what I need to add airports to the database should you request a destination not already in the system, now you will not be aware of what airport is in and which is not, so that is why I need it.
I do not have the time to go searching for the information that is just for a charter request plain and simple, you want the charter then you are required to provide the information so it cuts my workload down.
IF none or only part of the information above is not provided then the request will be denied.
Below is an example on what the layout of the request should look like.
Example
(Help Desk Subject) – Full Charter Request – (Pilots Name and PID)
Hi, can I request a full charter.
Start Date – 15 September 2050
Aircraft – Boeing 797-600
Number of Legs – 5 ---- Paris CDG – Montreal – San Francisco – Honolulu – Sydney.
Reason for the Charter – I am flying this route in Real World and would like to recreate it in FS.
Airport Details.
Paris Charles de Gaulle
France
CDG
LFPG
Lat- N49 0 46
Lon – E2 32 57
CET (GMT +1)
Montreal-Doval Quebec
Canada
YUL
CYUL
Lat – N45 28 5
Lon – W73 44 27
ET (GMT -5)
San Francisco California
USA
SFO
KSFO
Lat – N37 37 6
Lon – W122 22 30
PT (GMT -8)
Honolulu Hawaii
USA
HNL
PHNL
Lat – N21 19 5
Lon – W157 55 19
Hawaii (GMT -10)
Sydney
Australia
SYD
YSSY
Lat – S33 56 44
Lon – E151 10 32
NSWT (GMT +10)
Thank you for your time, look forward to your response.
OK seems a lot of work, but at the end of the day it is what I would have to do if I had to go and get the information personally, so please remember that.
As I said before it will be your responsibility to obtain all the information required and if not all present it will be refused.
OK that should be all…
Just a few reminders.
ALLOW UP TO 48 HOURS FOR PROCESSING.
FILL IN ALL REQUIRED INFORMATION
PLEASE NOTE – Once a charter is in your logbook you are required to fly the charter in full before continuing flying normal flights. If you break the charter string, your charter will be cancelled with immediate effect.
I will be limiting the amount of 1 charter per pilot per calendar month from April 1st.
Please remember also Full Charters will only be processed if time permits. Bail Out Charters will be approved automatically as it is a Schedule issue not a charter but again please plan ahead as 48 hours is request for those as well.
Any further information you require please do not contact me. Kidding please get in touch and I will answer them as best as I can, and if I do not know the answer I’ll make one up for you.
Many Thanks
Roger Taylor
Executive Vice President
Air France Virtual Airlines
www.afva.net
rtaylor@afva.net
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AFV651
Captain, B707-320
OLP
Joined on August 04 2011
Historic Two Fifty Club
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"Concorde: anything else is just SLOW"
Milan, Lombardy Italy
1,087 legs, 2,148.6 hours
304 legs,
494.6 hours online
1,087 legs,
2,148.6 hours ACARS
10 legs,
15.4 hours event
1,410 legs, 2,961.0 hours total
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Posted onPost created on
March 30 2013 14:52 ET by Luca Di Biase
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