Careers
From application to the flight deck
Two seats, one standard. Bring a study-level Airbus, VATSIM discipline and the will to fly it properly — we bring the airline around it.
Requirements
What you bring
VELA recruits pilots for both seats of the flight deck. Experience is counted in hours flown on the A320 family at a previous virtual airline; the standard expected in either seat is the same.
- Experience
- Your hours on the A320 family at a previous virtual airline, with proof attached to the application
- Minimum age
- At least 16 years of age
- Required equipment
- A study-level A320: Fenix, ToLiss or FlyByWire
- Network
- A VATSIM account in good standing. The VATSIM Code of Conduct applies at all times, with clean ICAO phraseology on every frequency
- Flight planning
- A SimBrief account for dispatch and flight planning
- Flight bag
- An iPad running iOS 17.0 or later for vIFM, our electronic flight bag
- Fleet on the roster
- A320 family only at present: A319, A320 and A321
- Home base
- Zurich (ZRH)
Study-level means a simulator aircraft that models the systems and procedures of the real one in depth. VATSIM is the online network on which VELA flies, with volunteer air traffic controllers on the frequencies; phraseology is the standard wording used on the radio. SimBrief is the planning service that calculates each flight plan.
Selection
Four steps to the line
From the first form to the first flight on your own roster.
Apply online
Tell us who you are and what you fly. A study-level A320 — Fenix, ToLiss or FlyByWire — is the required equipment. We then review your details and your hours.
Entry knowledge test
A short screening on A320 basics, procedures and VATSIM phraseology — taken from home, open book.
Check flight
One rated leg with a VELA examiner: SOPs, flows and a stabilized approach per FCOM.
Fly the line
Your callsign, your roster. Monthly lines, trip bids and a crew that flies the plan.
SOPs are the standard operating procedures, flows the memorised cockpit sequences that go with them. The FCOM is the Flight Crew Operating Manual, the manufacturer’s handbook for the aircraft. A rated leg is a flight that is assessed.
What you get
An airline around your flying
The planning, the tools and the training that turn a flight in the simulator into a day on the line.
A roster of your own
Each month you bid for the trips you want and receive a line of your own, standby days included.
A release for every leg
Dispatch plans and releases each of your flights, so you start every leg with fuel, weather and performance figures in hand.
Your own tools
vIFM, our flight bag for the iPad, holds the briefing for your flight and files the report once you are parked.
Training and a path to command
Online courses and check flights take you from the entry test to the line, and later from First Officer to Commander.
On the line
A roster built from the timetable
A roster is your duty plan for the month. You bid for trips, fly your assigned rotations and report absences early — the crew plan depends on you.
The roster is currently built for the A320 family only: A319, A320 and A321. Everything on it comes from the published timetable: 405 flights a week across a network of 23 destinations, based in Zurich.
Your move
Ready for the flight deck?
First Officer from 150 hours, Commander from 250 hours on the A320 family. The next roster is already being built.
A position in a virtual airline
VELA is a virtual airline for flight simulation. A pilot position at VELA is a voluntary role in a hobby, flown at home on your own simulator. It is not employment and involves no real-world flying.
Family, work and health always come before VELA — nobody is pressured to fly or be online.