Airline Onboarding

A checklist for taking a new virtual airline from signup to a pilot-ready operation on VAOMS.

1. Apply for a trial

Start at /apply to request access. Once approved, you'll get a dedicated airline workspace and an owner account.

2. Configure your airline profile

From your airline settings, set your airline's name, ICAO/IATA codes, and registration slug — the slug is what pilots use to join at /airlines/{your-slug}/register or /airlines/{your-slug}/join.

3. Apply your branding

Set your design colors (sidebar, nav, primary/accent, card and body backgrounds) and upload your logos — these drive the look of the pilot dashboard sidebar and topbar your pilots will see every time they log in.

4. Connect Discord

In Discord Settings:

  1. Copy the generated Bot Setup Token.
  2. Run the /link command in your Discord server with that token — this populates your Discord Server ID automatically.
  3. Paste in channel IDs for the notifications you want: news, notices, NOTAMs, PIREP review (staff-only), flight-phase updates, and the live flight board.
  4. Optionally enable direct-message notifications so pilots get pinged when a PIREP is approved, their rank changes, or they earn a badge.

5. Build your fleet and route network

Add your aircraft types and tail numbers under Fleet, then create routes and routings under Flight Operations. Routes are what appear in the pilot Timetable, so this is what pilots will actually see and book.

6. Set up staff and permissions

Invite staff and assign permissions from the groups available: Flights & Operations, Fleet, Pilots & HR, Airports, Communications, and Settings & Config. Give each staff member only the permissions their role needs — for example, a dispatcher needs Manage Dispatch and View Bookings, not full Manage Settings.

7. Publish news and notices

Use News for general announcements and Notices for anything pilots must acknowledge before continuing — notices can be marked as "must-read," which blocks the pilot dashboard until they're dismissed.

8. Go live

Before inviting pilots:

  • [ ] Branding and logos look right in both light and dark mode.
  • [ ] Discord bot is linked and posting to the right channels.
  • [ ] At least one route is published and bookable.
  • [ ] Staff permissions are assigned.
  • [ ] Billing/subscription is active, if your instance requires it.

Once that's done, share your join link (/airlines/{your-slug}/join) with pilots.

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