2. Operations Manual V3.2

Pacific Airways Operations Manual - Revised October 2026

About the Airline

Pacific Airways Was established in 1997. We are one of the oldest Virtual Airlines in the world. We operate primarily in the United States, with services to Europe and the Pacific Rim to include major Hubs in Seattle, WA(SEA), Miami, FL (MIA), Denver, CO (DEN), Chicago, IL (ORD), Los Angeles, CA (LAX), New York, NY (JFK, KEWR, KLGA), with the Pacific Europe Division, connecting with several locations in the European area.

 

Pacific offers pilots a “Freedom of Flight” that you will not find with most other VAs. After a minimal number of hours, pilots can work up to being able to fly any aircraft in your sim, anywhere in the world.

 

Pacific Airways headquarters is in Seattle, Washington, with offices at the Seattle/Tacoma International Airport.

Membership Requirements

Anyone over 13 can become a member of Pacific Airways;

The best part is that it is entirely FREE. You should also have basic piloting skills (i.e., take-off,landing, etc.). To join the airline, click “Sign Up,” fill out the new pilot application form, follow the screens, select a Hub of your choice, and visit the homepage.

It is that easy. Flight Simulators like FS2020 / 24, or XPlane are required to become a pilot for Pacific Airways.

Pilot Status & Flight Requirements

Pacific Airways pilots maintains a status based on their flight activity or status.

Status Description
Active

At least one (1) completed flight/PIREP in a rolling thirty (30) day period.
Inactive

No completed flights/PIREPS in the past thirty (30) days.
Suspended

No completed flights after ninety (60) days.
Removed

Removed by staff after suspended state was imposed up to (90) days.
On Leave Request leave for a specific time period.
Retired Pilot requested to be retired from the airline.

Any pilot within our airline can file a manual PIREP and or use our ACARS suite, once a pilot completed a flight via either of our services the data will be processed automatically, at which time the report will be added to their Logbook.

A pilot will be place On Leave if they do not complete at least one (1) flight every thirty (30) days.

A pilot will be Suspended if they do not complete at least one (1) flight every sixty (60) days.

A pilot will be Removed by an executive staff member after their sixty (60) days, this is after the staff member has tried to make contact with the pilot on discord or by email.

If a pilot was Removed their account will be deleted from the airline but their data will be preserved, if that pilot wishes to return to the airline they can contact on of our exectutive staff members with their case, in which time if accepted their account will be reactived back to its original state within the airline. 

Supported Sims

Pacific Airways supports multiple silulators, the following simulators have been tested and have been approved for use within the airline via our ACARS suite.

We however no longer support FSX, FS9 or Prepare 3D (without further testing) via our ACARS Suite.

However, because we are a 20+ year old airline, there are many FS9 / FSX planes and liveries available for download.

FS9 / FSX pilots are welcome to use these older liveries, but we will not add anything new for FS9 or earlier sims.

Pausing Simulator

Unfortunately due to the nature of the ACARS system, pilots cannot pause their simulator at anytime during their flight or incorrect data will be sent to the database.

This will mean that the PIREP will be declined.

Pacific Airways staff reserve the right to decline any flight reports (PIREPS) that may have been paused or altered.

Downloading Aircraft

Pacific Airways has a variety of aircraft ranging from smaller turboprop aircraft for regional flights to a Boeing 747-400 or Airbus A380 for long hauls. Our fleets are mostly liveries only for default and payware aircraft. Only a select few freeware are entire planes..

To download aircraft: On the crew center dashboard, choose "Download Center" then click on "Goto Liveries Center" there you will find a wide range of aircraft and files, with other files that are not in the main fleet.

Flight Lines

Flight Lines: A flight line is a destination with a completed return.

Every flight you log must connect back to the original starting point to end the flight line.

Examples:  If your Hub is Seattle (KSEA), you will fly from Seattle to Denver (KDEN), then either return to Seattle to complete a flight line or fly from Denver to Los Angeles, from Los Angeles back to Seattle (your starting point) completing your flight line. There are no limits on stops you make if they are a designated PAY flight. You will, be required to end up back at your Hub or starting point to complete the line.

Pilots that are ATP Senior Captain or higher can fly from any point to any point without starting at their previous location.

General Aviation Aircraft

All pilots, regardless of rank or hours, are approved to fly GA aircraft and log their flights. The simulation is that you own or rent the GA aircraft for personal use. There is no restriction on what or where you fly a GA.

There are no routes designated for GA. Use your Pilot Identification number as the flight number when logging your GA flight. Use any plane in your sim, any livery. GA aircraft recognized have ten seats or less.

This is a perk that Pacific Airways offers that you will not find with most VAs.

Flights

The flights are broken up into code A and Code B flights.

Code A flights are to a destination, and the code B flights are return flights from Code A. You will find that code A and B flights have the same flight number, just different codes.

Mix and match the A and B flights to make your flight line with 3500+ flights available.

You must complete the flight line by ending up at the same airport (unlimited stops) where you started. Then you can start a new flight line.

Pacific Airways requires pilots to use flight lines for up to (300) service hours, in which time they become ATP Senior Captain, this will then allow the pilots that reach this rank to free fly anywhere in the world.

If this rank is not reached then pilots will have to jumpseat to another destination to start their next flight from, this will cost virtual money that you earn by flying based on the distance away you are at your current airport.

Jump Seating

A jump seat, or a dead head, flight is when a pilot rides on a flight as a passenger.

You may make a one-jump-seat flight from your Hub to another Airport to begin a new flight line. Once your flight line is complete, you may return to where you started to continue your original trip. (i.e., if your home hub was Seattle and you wanted to make a flight line in London, you could jump a seat from Seattle to London, make a complete flight line using London routes, then hop a chair back from London to Seattle.

Jump seat flights differ from regular flights because they are not logged in your logbook, and you do not earn any hours or money for them.

To make a jumpseat, click on your profile on the "top right" of the crew center then click on "Jumpseat".

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Then you can make your jumpseat by searching for your new starting location.

Please note: if you do not have the required virtual monies in your account, you will be unable to jumpseat.

Pacific Elite Pilot Status

Once a pilot has achieved 1000 hours you retain the rank of ATP Senior Commander but also achieve the additional status as a Pacific Elite Pilot. Elite pilot status adds certain privileges over and above normal flight restrictions.

An Elite Pilot can fly any aircraft in the Pacific fleet between any two airports worldwide. These flights can be flown entirely outside Pacific’s route system and do not require the airport(s) to be an airport in our system.

However, it is required that the aircraft used is realistic for the route. You may fly as many of these flights consecutively as you desire. However, you are still bound by the flight line rules if you continue your regular flights.

It would be best to begin your next routine flight from the last airport you were at before you started your special Elite Pilot flights.

 When logging Elite flights, use your 4-digit PID number, i.e., PAY****, as the flight number on your manual pireps and in ACARS

Once a pilot reaches ATP Senior Captain free flys are enabled throughout our system.

Vitrual Finances

Finances:

All pilots within the airline will earn virtual money based off their rank, You can use these funds to make Jumpseat flights.

We hope in the future, you will be able to use the funds for other things like purchasing merchandise etc.

Rank Payouts (per mile)
Rank Pay Rate
First Officer - GA $1.00
Captain $1.50
ATP First Officer $2.00
ATP Captain $2.50
ATP Senior Captain - Elite $3.00
APT Commander $3.50
ATP Senior Commander $4.00
Pacific Lifetime Member $5.00

Please note: this is only a reference, the pay rates can change at anytime based on what is set via our executive staff team.

ACARS

ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System) is the preferred method of logging your flights at Pacific. In real aviation, the ACARS communicates by satellite or radio to relay location and maintenance information to the ground during a flight. In the VA world, ACARS does much more.

Our ACARS is a stand-alone program that runs along with your sim and keeps track of everything you do during your flight, like a Black Box, and logs the flight in your logbook. Manual Pireps are also available but are primarily used as a backup to ACARS. 

How to use ACARS

You will be able to fly right away with our ACARS application, Here are some basic instructions on how to use ACARS and set up a scheduled flight or a free flight.  You will be amazed how ridiculously simple it is to use compared to our earlier programs. Firstly, our ACARS gets all its information from our crew center, the application itself is essentially a slave that gets all required information from the website.

ACARS

ACARS is still the preferred way to log your flights. The new ACARS works with all sims the same. There is nothing specific you will need to do to your sim. It works directly from your FSUIPC or XUIPC in Xplane. There are no plug in’s, no API keys to worry about. You may need to install FSUIPC or XUIPC if you don’t have it. That would be all.

Pilot Ranks

As a New Hire with Pacific Airways, your First Rank will be a First Officer. The ranking system is based on hours flown and Experience Points. For promotions, see the chart below:

Rank Hours
First Officer - GA Certified

0-19hrs
Captain

20-39hrs
ATP First Officer

40-79hrs
ATP Captain

80-299hrs
ATP Senitor Captain

300-599hrs
ATP Commander

600-999hrs
ATP Senior Commander - Elite Pilot

1000-2999hrs
Pacific Lifetime Member

3000+hrs

Our exectutive staff team can change these hours at anytime and this page will be updated to reflect any changes made.

Online / Offline Flying

Pacific Airways is a proud partner of Vatsim. We encourage all pilots to fly to a new level by flying online with Vatsim. Pacific does not require pilots to fly online, but it is highly recommended.

Millennium Club

In addition to our regular operation, Pacific Airways has a flying club called Millennium. There are a new group of planes, both antique and retired, that are approved to fly anywhere you wish and log your hours. When Pacific retires an aircraft, it goes into the MC club, so pilots never lose their favorite plane. The MC Club aircraft are available in the general download area. 

Lifetime Membership

At 3000 hours of service, pilots reach the rank of Lifetime Member. As a lifetime member, you are no longer required to fly once per month to stay active, no need to request an LOA if you will be out for a while.

You stay on the roster unless you request otherwise. Lifetime members are entitled to all their hours should they leave and return. Lifetime members are still required to keep a good email address.