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A virtual airline (VA) is a flight-simulation community that organizes its members around the routes, fleet, and procedures of a real airline — in this case Delta Air Lines. Delta Virtual Airlines (deltava.org) is one such community: a group of flight-simulation enthusiasts who fly Delta and its alliance partners' routes in desktop simulators, file flight reports, and track their progress through pilot ranks. It is a fan organization and is in no way affiliated with Delta Air Lines. If you fly Microsoft Flight Simulator, Prepar3D, or X-Plane and want structure, schedules, and a roster of other pilots around your flying, a VA like this is built for you; if you only want to fly freeform with no reporting, it adds little.

How a VA differs from a real airline

A real airline moves passengers and cargo under regulatory authority. A VA moves simulated flights inside flight-simulator software. Nothing you do in a VA affects real-world operations, and no VA membership makes you an airline employee.

How Delta Virtual Airlines operates

The site describes itself as "the world's largest virtual airline, based on Delta Air Lines," and has run since May 2003. Its structure gives members several concrete things to do:

• Flight reports — Once you join the active pilot roster, you may submit flight reports. This is how a completed sim flight is recorded against your account.
• Logbooks — The site exposes pilot logbooks and a pilot roster, so your flying history is tracked and visible.
• Schedules and dispatch — A schedule and dispatch section supports planning which routes to fly, with dispatch statistics tracked for top dispatchers.
• ACARS — The airline runs ACARS tooling, including a live ACARS map and Google Earth ACARS view, used to track online flights.
• Ranks and recognition — Pilots hold ranks (the newest-pilot list shows First Officer and Captain entries) and can earn accomplishments such as the Century Club.
• Community — Forums (the "Water Cooler" and "Pilot's Lounge"), an image gallery, online events, and flight tours give members non-flying ways to participate.
• Academy — An academy section with graduates suggests structured training or progression content.

The homepage also notes a Flight Planner Beta release, indicating the toolset is actively developed.

Supported simulators

Delta Virtual Airlines supports a wide span of simulator versions, which matters if you fly older software:

• Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004
• Flight Simulator X (including Steam Edition)
• Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020
• Lockheed-Martin Prepar3D v1–5
• Laminar Research X-Plane 10/11/12

If your simulator is on this list, you can fly the airline's routes in the software you already own.

What joining involves and what you get

Joining places you on the active pilot roster. Per the site, once on that roster you may submit flight reports and contribute to the discussion forums and image library. The site invites both experienced pilots and novices — "all of us that are in between" — and provides a join link on the homepage.

What you can expect as a member:

• File flight reports and build a logbook
• Access schedules and dispatch tools
• Use ACARS and appear on the live ACARS map
• Participate in forums, image galleries, online events, and flight tours
• Progress through ranks and earn accomplishments

Deciding whether to join

Choose Delta Virtual Airlines if you want a long-running (since 2003), large community with schedules, ACARS tracking, ranks, and events, and you fly one of the supported simulators. Look elsewhere if you prefer unstructured flying, want no reporting overhead, or fly a simulator outside the supported list. Note that the site is an independent fan community — joining it is a hobby activity, not a connection to the real Delta Air Lines.