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New Operations Director

Good Evening All,   Following the departure of @Jack Edwards from the role of Operations Director, I am thrilled to announce @Archie Middlefell as his successor following the conclusion of our recruitment process last week. Archie has a wealth of experience within the Operations Department as well as a number of ideas he wishes to implement moving forwards. I am certain that the Operations Department will continue to thrive under Archie's leadership, and I look forward to working along

Ben Wright

Ben Wright in United Kingdom

Mentor and Member Retention Surveys

Hello all, We are now well over a year into my minimum two year term and I concede that things are happening now at a reduced pace. Will and I have been able to introduce some meaningful changes with our colleagues across the department and we're beginning to see some real, tangible improvements to our training process. For example, the OBS > S1 waiting list went down in size for the first time in years and with the award of a batch of training places earlier this month, for the first ti

Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

TGI Heathrow - Appointment

Good afternoon, It is with great pleasure that I announce that @John Batten is returning to the ATC Training department, this time in the post of Heathrow Training Group Instructor. John is no stranger to the division, having held posts as both TGI New Controller and Member Services Director for a time. John's tenure within TGNC came to a somewhat premature end, having faced an increase in demands for his time within the workplace. Thankfully, John has more availability now and makes a welc

Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

[Vacancy] Operations Director

The Operations Department is responsible for the creation and maintenance of our sector file, controller pack, local procedures and documents, letters of agreement and temporary procedures. The Operations Department also holds responsibility for managing the Events Team who plan and execute online events within the UK. The Operations Director’s main responsibility is to provide leadership to the Operations Department. Other responsibilities of the role include: Continually - Providi

Ben Wright

Ben Wright in United Kingdom

[VACANCY] Training Group Instructor - TG Approach

The department is pleased to accept applications for the role of Training Group Instructor - TG Approach. As you will no doubt be aware, VATSIM UK is a highly-demanded division for ATC training, providing thousands of mentoring sessions per year and hundreds of rating upgrades. Globally, we are renowned for providing high quality training and providing a high standard of service in some of the most densely populated and complicated airspace in the world. Our ethos is to provide pragmat

Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

Changes in TG App

Good morning, all, It is with much sadness that I announce that Sam Lefevre has left his role within TG APP, effective immediately. Sam has held post within the training group since Feb 2023 and has been subject to incredible pressure in that time. His contributions have been significant within the department in those two years. We've seen some great numbers passing through the training group during Sam's tenure, coupled with the introduction of some great resources and a revision to the sy

Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

[VACANCY] Training Group Instructor - TG Heathrow

The department is pleased to accept applications for the role of Training Group Instructor - TG Heathrow. As you will no doubt be aware, VATSIM UK is a highly-demanded division for ATC training, providing thousands of mentoring sessions per year and hundreds of rating upgrades. Globally, we are renowned for providing high quality training and providing a high standard of service in some of the most densely populated and complicated airspace in the world. Our ethos is to provide pragmat

Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

New ATC Training Documentation

Good morning, I'm pleased to finally be able to announce the publication of new documentation for the department. These documents have both been arduous work, solidifying over a year of changes to how we run training within VATSIM UK whilst also ensuring that our policies and procedures are GCAP compliant. The documents have seen rounds of iterative feedback, both within my teams and within the DSG. We started working on these documents in late Spring last year, reviewing what existed, writ

Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

Pilot Training Manager Vacancy

Hi all! I am pleased to announce that we are recruiting for the Pilot Training Manager role. As most of you will know, this role hasn't been filled in a few years, but it is now making a comeback with new vision! The Pilot Training Manager role is being brought back as part of a succession plan within Pilot Training and to improve the day-to-day oversight capacity of the staff structure. As such, it has a slightly different role description as it previously had, which will be detailed

Darren Hill

Darren Hill in Vacancy

Join the Media Team!

🖌️ Want to join the VATSIM UK Media Team? 🖌️   We are looking to expand the VATSIM UK Media Team! This is a voluntary group of people who assist the community department with the creation of event banners and various graphics for our social media and forums.  If you are interested in joining, please create a fictional banner! "Newcastle Overload - 24/01/25 - 1200z - 1500z - Full staffup of Newcastle" Feel free to be as adventurous as you like, but attempt to stick to the

Kye Taylor

Kye Taylor in Member Services

2024: In Review

Hi all! With the new year well underway, I want to take a moment to review and reflect on the successes of Pilot Training in 2024. As most of you will remember, mid-2024 saw a massive shift in how I was running Pilot Training. Read more here: Since then, I've made sure to deliver on my promises of being a better leader to my team and to improve our training programmes. I am beyond excited to announce that with the incredible help of the FIs (@Benjamin Arrowsmith, @Ben Carpenter,

Darren Hill

Darren Hill in Pilot Training

Operations New Year Update 2025: Staff Changes, Online ATC Documentation and more

New Operations Staff Members and Team Structure It gives me great pleasure to announce that @James Bayliss-de Gruchy and @Mohamed Ouahchia have accepted offers to join the staff team as Events Assistants. They will assist the Events Manager in organising the UK's event's schedule. Also joining the team is @Ben Walker as the new Sector File Coordinator (replacing Peter Mooney, who has moved to Deputy Operations Director). Ben has been an active contributor to Operations for some time no

Jack Edwards

Jack Edwards in Operations

Resignation - Fraser Cooper

Good day, It is with tremendous regret that I announce the unfortunate and unexpected resignation of Fraser Cooper from his post as Heathrow TGI. Fraser has been in post since April 2023 and has worked for a long time for the benefit of Heathrow on VATSIM, overseeing some fantastic changes within the TG and pushing Heathrow training to ensure that we consistently deliver prompt and high quality training to those who seek it. Fraser's contributions include overseeing the provision of tr

Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

2024 - Statistics and Review

As @Ben Wright alluded to in his January 2025 Update blog post here is the longer and more detailed anaysis of the statistics of aircraft movements and controlling over the last year! Before I begin, Thank you to HS and @Jack Edwards for their support in collecting, analysing and reviewing my drafted post. Headlines Stats Network Traffic Traffic growth in the UK showed no sign of slowing down last year, with around 90,000 more movements in 2024 than 2023. For the first time,

Kye Taylor

Kye Taylor in Member Services

January 2025 Update

Good Evening and a Happy New Year!   An update is once again long overdue and as the beginning of a new year is always a great time for both reflection and looking to the future, I can think of no better time than now. Starting in somewhat standard fashion with staff changes, in November 2024 we welcomed @Jack Edwards into the role of Operations Director. Jack agreed to take this position to enact a number of internal changes in the Department, with one of the primary focuses being to

Ben Wright

Ben Wright in United Kingdom

2024 - A Year in Review

Hello everyone! I've been sort of quiet with updates as life has gripped what little precious time I have and summarily taken it away from me, but I promised transparency and it wouldn't be the advent of a new year without a blog post now, would it!? Firstly, as ever, we need to recognise the contributions of our mentors, examiners and staff. Our department is one the most highly demanding across VATSIM and we deal with people from all walks of life, from all situations and with variou

Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

ATC Training Appointments

Good evening, It gives me great pleasure, this evening, to make not one, but two appointments - for the same person! Over a month ago, we advertised for applications for the En-Route Training Group lead. I am pleased to say that we had more than one applicant and accordingly, we were able to conduct a proper process. Competition was genuinely strong and I welcome that we've had multiple applicants. I'm pleased to say that Kye Taylor has been offered and has accepted the post of TG ENR

Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

Sector File Coordinator Vacancy

The appointment of Peter Mooney to Deputy Operations Director has created a vacancy for a Sector File Coordinator. The Sector File Coordinator role sits within the Operations Team, leads work on the VATSIM UK Sector File and is responsible to the Operations Directors. They ensure contributors follow the standards of the repository, and review and merge Pull Requests. They are also responsible for publishing the Sector File each AIRAC. The Sector File Coordinator works as part of the wider O

Jack Edwards

Jack Edwards in Vacancy

2024 Christmas

Hi All, In similar fashion to our ATC Training Department, we will be winding down between the 23rd December to the 2nd January. During this time, responses to inquires may be slower than usual. For transfer or visiting applicants, please note that application processing may take longer, and we will not be sending our usual emails with 84 hour deadlines during this period. I hope everyone has a great Christmas and a happy New Year! For those of you taking part in the Christmas Qui

William Shaw

William Shaw in Member Services

Outreach Manager Appointment

Good Afternoon, I am pleased to announce that @Kye Taylor will be joining the team in the role of Outreach Manager. This newly created role is designed to enhance the experience of all our members, both current and new.  Kye brings a wealth of fresh ideas and passion to the role and I can't wait to see the impact he has moving forward.  To view just some of the areas this position will impact I'd invite you to view our application post:     

William Shaw

William Shaw in Staff Changes

2024 Christmas Closure

Good morning, all, As is tradition, to remove any burden of expectation on either our mentors, staff or students, the ATC Training Department will be closed between the 23rd December and 2nd January. During this period, there is no expectation of any mentoring or examinations taking place, but of course, if mentors and students find themselves with time and wanting to take part then we will, of course, not stop them! To this effect, between the 23rd December and 2nd January, no ATC Tra

Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

P1 PPL(A) Syllabus and Moodle Updates

Hi all! After months of planning, getting .net approval, and a late night push with @Ben Carpenter, we are extremely proud to announce our revised and streamlined P1 PPL(A) syllabus. These changes are the first step in a wider effort my Pilot Training to improve training efficiency, modernize our syllabus, and encourage more self-study for students. Syllabus Changes Note: changes are effective immediately. The overall changes can be summarized as follows: Removal of t

Darren Hill

Darren Hill in Pilot Training

Resignation - James Thomas

Hi all, It's with sadness that I announce the departure of James from the team after over 4 years of dedication, hard work and valuable contributions to both the team and the division. James has played an important role, supporting multiple departments and his presence will be missed. I can't thank you enough James and wish you the very best going forward.

William Shaw

William Shaw in Staff Changes

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