Greetings from United Virtual Airlines! We are officially supported by the real United Airlines and already on the cutting edge of the VA industry. In just a few weeks we'll be rolling out a revamped website (UVA2) which integrates MCDU -- an ACARS program programmed by the people who run the real system at United which accurately models everything United's real ACARS system does. From messaging, dispatch, and gate requests to weather reports and position reporting, this promises to set the standard in the VA world.Even with UVA1, we still provide services no other VA come close to providing. There is never a charge when flying with United Virtual and we welcome all pilots from newbies to multi-thousand hour pilots. We also credit experienced VA pilots for their time so they don't have to start at the bottom when coming over to United Virtual. Don't get confused by lesser VA's claiming to be United! Check us out at http://virtual.united.com.For information, contact us at [email protected] Klain

I think it is absolutely fantastic that you have received the backing of the real-world airline. If more airlines would be so welcoming, there'd be a great experience waiting for many simmers.Stuck "masking" my VA...-Greg / [a href=http://www.virtualusa.org]VirtualUSA[/a]

You're right. We are very fortunate to have United's support. Fortunately, a couple of very dedicated United employees in various departments (including their computer department) are devoted flight simmers and willing to give of their free time to make United Virtual as great and realistic as it is. Our CEO, Igor Rafalovsky, works at United and has been able to arrange all kinds of support. Bottom line is this costs United almost nothing, they get some good PR and goodwill out of it, and they have been very reasonable with us.For other VA's out there looking to do something like this with their real-world counterparts, I can tell you what United requires of us:1. We can't do anything that embarrasses them or besmirches United's good name.2. We must comply with their corporate communications guidelines (this extends to everything including fonts, colors and graphics...we have to use the "approved" United Blue, "approved" United font, etc). Good news is their art department has been just great and made any and all of their artwork and photography available to us free of charge.3. We have to comply with United's standards of conduct (really not much different than most standards of conduct out there anyway).If anyone wants additional information, contact me at [email protected] and I'll be glad to share what we've learned.Dave